Complete Story
06/23/2016
Charter Tells FCC to Reject Zoom Deal Challenge
Also signals has no issue with petition to reconsider buildout condition
Charter has told the FCC that it needs to reject Zoom Telephonics' petition to reconsider the commission's approval of its merger with Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks.
Zoom initially asked the FCC to deny the deal, primarily over the issue of access to third-party set-tops.
Once the deal was done, Zoom sought reconsideration, again over access to set-tops.
Since 2012, Charter has bundled the price of leasing its modems into the overall price of service, which Zoom has said gives customers no financial incentive to purchase their own devices. Zoom also petitioned the FCC to deny the Comcast-TWC deal over the issue, saying that if the FCC did approve that deal—it didn't—it should condition that approval on Charter stating an unsubsidized price for leasing cable modems and not “unreasonably” refusing to allow “nonharmful” modems to attach to its network.
Charter, in its response to the petition, which was due this week, said the Zoom petition should be denied because it seeks to reargue claims the FCC has already rejected.
