Netflix Blasts Comcast, TWC Merger as ‘Not in the Public Interest’
Netflix has publicly opposed a proposed merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable and has called the move anticompetitive, as it could grant Comcast a monopoly over high-speed broadband services in the United States.
The video streaming service said in a letter to shareholders on its first-quarter results (.PDF) that the proposed merger would allow Comcast to charge “unprecedented fees” from streaming services such as Netflix. CEO Reed Hastings and CFO David Wells wrote within the letter:
“If the Comcast and Time Warner Cable merger is approved, the combined company’s footprint will pass over 60 percent of U.S. broadband households, after the proposed divestiture, with most of those homes having Comcast as the only option for truly high-speed broadband.
More: Netflix Blasts Comcast, TWC Merger as ‘Not in the Public Interest’