Convinced that the deal would not pose harm to consumers in any market and would promote the rollout of high-speed Internet service, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) yesterday granted
cable operator Comcast Corp. permission to buy the nation's No. 1 cable TV operator AT&T Broadband for $30.5 billion, creating a pay television giant with nearly 27 million subscribers. The new entity
will be called AT&T Comcast. The approval came despite opposition of consumer groups, who argued the deal would lead to higher prices and dominate the market, taking 40% of the cable market and 30% of
the pay television market. The U.S. Justice Department's antitrust division said it would not challenge the deal.
