A day after Dish Network again, this time with CEO Charlie Ergen in tow, urged the FCC to deny Charter Communications’ proposed merger with Time Warner Cable (TWC) and Bright House Networks (BHN, Charter is hitting back against Dish’s claims.
Ergen this week met with FCC representatives to blast the proposed Charter-TWC-BHN merger as unhealthy for the broadband and online video marketplaces, saying the combined company would have the power to “hurt or destroy online video rivals,” including Dish’s Sling TV. Ergen also said that New Charter would serve almost 30 percent of U.S. homes receiving broadband service of at least 25 Mbps.
Dish says the market share of New Charter, combined with the existing reach of Comcast, would create a “suffocating duopoly.”
In a response filed Thursday with the SEC, Charter is refuting Dish’s claims concerning the merger.
According to Charter, New Charter would only serve 23 percent of subscribers receiving 25 Mbps or higher, which it says is smaller than the percentage Comcast serves today and much smaller than the 60 percent Comcast and TWC would have served had those companies been allowed to merge.
In all, New Charter would serve 21 percent of all wireline broadband customers, according to Charter, which the company says is less than Comcast and more than AT&T.
Charter also says that New Charter would be a better platform for online video distributors (OVD), pointing out that Netflix has given its blessing to the merger. Charter also says it views OTT content as complimentary to its MVPD service and that its cloud-based programming guide enables OVD content to be accessed along with cable networks.
“With minimum broadband speeds of 60 Mbps and no data caps, no usage-based billing, no contracts and settlement-free interconnection, Charter is an industry leader in how to treat broadband consumers and online video distributors (OVDs) like Netflix,” Charter wrote in the filing.
Charter also called it “baseless” to claim that a duopoly of Comcast and New Charter would emerge and damage the competitive landscape. The cable operator said its strategy is different from Comcast’s, specifically pointing out that Charter doesn’t have significant programming interests to protect and therefore has no incentive to harm OVDs.