Quite rightly, yesterday’s regulatory approval of the Comcast/NBC merger comes with a lot of strings attached. Non-discrimination requirements are, of course, ‘meat and potatoes’ for any competent competition regulator but it will be interesting to see how the FCC deals with the ‘soft’ commitments Comcast offered to sweeten the deal.
For example, in relation to broadband adoption and deployment. Comcast has said:
“it will make available to approximately 2.5 million low income households: (i) high-speed Internet access service for less than $10 per month; (ii) personal computers, netbooks, or other computer equipment at a purchase price below $150; and (iii) an array of digital literacy education opportunities. Comcast will also expand its existing broadband networks to reach approximately 400,000 additional homes, provide broadband Internet access service in six additional rural communities, and provide free video and high-speed Internet service to 600 new anchor institutions, such as schools and libraries, in underserved, low-income areas”.
Now that’s a compliance challenge…
No comments:
Post a Comment