FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler could begin circulating to his fellow commissioners this week a draft order okaying the $55 billion deal for Charter Communications to acquire Time Warner Cable.
Much is still to be worked out, but it appears the basic tenants of a deal being approved would be a win for Charter after Comcast’s failed bid last year to buy TWC when regulators were prepared to block the deal over competitive impact concerns, reports the Wall Street Journal.
The order would impose conditions on the transaction, many of them aimed at boosting online video as a competitor to cable.
The deal is likely to condition approval on Charter promising to build or upgrade service to more homes, according to the WSJ; broadband deployment is a big priority for the Wheeler FCC, we’ve reported.
