Why shouldn’t Comcast merge?

Comcast Recruits Its Beneficiaries to Lobby for Time Warner Deal – NYTimes.com.

It’s capitalism. It’s America. Comcast is a successful creative company. Why shouldn’t Comcast be allowed to merge with Time-Warner Cable?

TechWite tells you why.

One of Comcast’s arguments for the merger is that the two companies operate in different geographies and so the merger will not harm competition. But as many consumers know, in the regions dominated by Comcast or Time-Warner Cable, satellite or DSL may be available, but these are not comparable to broadband in terms of speed, convenience, or reliability—and there are few or no other choices for high speed Internet. The unspoken part of this statement is, “…it won’t hurt competition, because there already is no competition.” Merging two regional monopolies creates one bigger monopoly, not competition.

Globally, Americans pay more for slower Internet access than most other developed countries because cable company investment in infrastructure has declined since its peak in 2001. If the two companies consolidate their captive customer bases, will they have any more motivation to improve performance, or lower prices?

Then there’s the list of Comcast customer objections based on first-hand experiences:

• A history of terrible customer service.
• Deceptive (if not downright dishonest) advertising.
• A history of “throttling” Internet usage, for users with supposed “unlimited” access.
• Pricing that requires re-negotiation and aggravating conversations every 3-6-12 months to prevent your rate from automatically going up,up, up.
• “Packages” that prevent you from getting what you want – such as high speed internet, only, at a reasonable monthly price, and insist on selling you what you don’t want: an HBO or Starz package, telephone service, cable channels.
• Using the WiFi router in your home, that you “rent”, as an “Xfinity WiFi” hotspot with access for other Xfinity subscribers, and advertising this as a benefit provided by Comcast (below). (And inserting advertisements into your browser when you use “Xfinity WiFi”.)

Why shouldn’t Comcast merge with Time-Warner Cable? This is easy. This is simple. This is awesome. Do you want this company to have more control of your Internet?

– TW