CPUC To Discuss Mergers, Aging Copper Networks at Meeting Thursday

The California Public Utilities Commission is scheduled to discuss Thursday how it will proceed with the now-dead Comcast purchase of Time Warner Cable and resulting divestitures to Charter Communications, and if it needs to investigate the condition of the state’s aging copper phone networks, said a Tellus Venture Associates blog post by Steve Blum. Blum is president of Tellus, which consults on developing community broadband systems. The commission can wrap up the Comcast deal in three ways: Approve it to establish a precedent for review of future transactions, deny it or allow Comcast to withdraw the application, Blum said. The CPUC previously approved a study of the aging copper networks, but the new agency President Michael Picker wants to scrap that and rely on the telcos to repair and maintain the networks, Blum said. Other commissioners are interested in going through with the study, he said. CPUC didn't comment.