The FCC's approval of Comcast and Time Warner Cable's takeover of bankrupt and looted Adelphia is a mixed bag for the public. On the positive side, someone is finally taking over and upgrading Adelphia's systems, which are technologically stuck in the mud and suffering from neglect. That should bring relief to Adelphia's long-suffering customers. However, the "White Knights" are Comcast and TWC, the nation's 2 biggest cablers, that are splitting Adelphia's systems into regional cable super-monopolies and will now control over half the nation's cable homes. That brings up a whole host of concentration issues that the Commission grappled with, but did not wholly remedy. As Andy Schwartzman of Media Access Project remarked, "Nothing will fix the regional monopolies created by this deal. And without Net Neutrality, the future of the democratic and open Internet remains in doubt."
Regional Sports Networks now have a reasonable chance of being seen on both cable and satellite (and now telco video) within their regions -- that's a big plus. After arbitration, independent program channels may get leased access to cable systems -- paying for carriage. But the real stinker here is the absence of the very same set of Net Neutrality protections for broadband Internet service that the Commission just a few months ago established as conditions for the approval of two equally blockbuster telephone mergers: ATT/SBC and Verizon/MCI.
So it's a mixed bag for the public: better technology, more sports programming, but likely higher prices and a potentially discriminatory Internet service.
Adelphia Mixed Bag
