Al Franken, Elizabeth Warren and four other U.S. senators asked federal regulators to block Comcast Corp.’s proposed purchase of Time Warner Cable Inc.
The merger between the largest U.S. cable companies would lead to higher prices and fewer choices for consumers, the lawmakers said in a letter Tuesday to the Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission.
Their opposition comes as antitrust regulators prepare to meet with company officials Wednesday. In addition to Franken and Warren, the letter was also signed by fellow Senate Democrats Ed Markey, Ron Wyden and Richard Blumenthal, as well as Bernard Sanders, an independent.
Staff attorneys at the Justice Department are preparing to recommend blocking the $45.2 billion deal on the grounds that the creation of a nationwide cable giant would hurt consumers, people familiar said last week.