Party lines being drawn in Verizon-cable deal

A group of 32 House Democrats have come out against Verizon’s plan to buy up portions of the broadcast spectrum from various cable companies.

From Hillicon Valley:

in a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Justice Department, the Democrats warned the deal could undermine the 1996 Telecommunications Act, which was intended to encourage competition between the cable and phone industries.

They said the marketing agreements appear to limit competition for services including video, Internet, voice and wireless access.

The idea here, as we’ve talked about many times on our show, is that if Verizon has more spectrum than everybody else, they become the dominant carrier and can set whatever rates and practices they want. The spectrum being bought may have been used for cable companies to also be wireless carriers one day but the purchase would pre-empt that.