FCC approves landmark merger between Cox Communications and Charter
The Federal Communications Commission has signed off on a landmark merger between Cox Communications and Charter Communications, paving the way to create the largest cable TV and broadband provider in the U.S.
Cox Communications, based in Sandy Springs, is the third-largest cable operator in the nation. Charter, based in Stamford, Connecticut, is the second-largest.
The combined company will take the Cox name and will use the name Spectrum for the consumer market, according to a Friday news release from the FCC. It will be publicly traded and based in Connecticut, but it will retain significant operations at the Cox Enterprises campus in Sandy Springs, just outside of Atlanta.
Representatives for both Cox Communications and Charter Communications declined to comment. Cox Communications is owned by Cox Enterprises, which also owns The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
When announcing the deal last year, the two companies said their total customer base would total about 38 million subscribers, overtaking Comcast, the current market leader. Cox and Charter also said the company will have more than 100,000 employees.
The deal, valued at $34.5 billion, allows the companies to better compete in an evolving marketplace that has seen consumers access television, other forms of video entertainment and the internet in different ways, increasingly wirelessly and on the go. The same pressures are also impacting businesses across the broader telecommunications, media and entertainment industries.
As part of the deal, Charter will bring all of the job functions handled offshore by Cox into the United States within 18 months, according to the news release. Charter will also extend its minimum starting wage of $20 an hour to Cox workers and invest billions of dollars to upgrade its network and improve rural infrastructure.
The FCC release also emphasized the deal will “enshrine protections against DEI discrimination.” FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has said previously the FCC could block mergers and acquisition proposals from companies promoting “invidious” DEI policies.
The immediate impact of the merger on existing Cox employees was not immediately known.
In May, when the merger plan was announced, Charter said the combined company will likely produce $500 million in cost savings and other synergies within three years of the deal closing, “stemming from typical procurement and overhead savings.”
The two companies must now pass the hurdle of approval from state regulators and the Justice Department.
About the Author
Savannah Sicurella is an entertainment business reporter with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
