The Federal Communications Commission has voted to regulate the Internet like a utility , and impose strict regulations on Internet service providers.
Now that the FCC net neutrality vote is over, and Internet activists claim victory , the attention shifts to what is the next step for telecommunications giants like Comcast.
Comcast's government influence
When the net neutrality fight is brought back to the US Congress, Comcast will have the ear of lawmakers from both parties.
Statistics from OpenSecrets.org show that in the 2014 cycle 373 House members and 45 US Senators were recipients of campaign donations from either the Comcast corporate PAC or employees of Comcast. In the Senate, Democrats received, on average, more than Republicans and in the House, members of both parties received very similar amounts.
Statistics from OpenSecrets.org also show that not only does Comcast have have the ear of lawmakers through campaign donations, it has a small army of lobbyists to deliver the company’s message before congress. Comcast was the eighth biggest spender on federal lobbying in 2014, with 128 federal lobbyists on payroll.
The ever expanding Comcast monopoly
The question of uniting the two largest cable operators in the United States, Comcast And Time Warner, has business leaders and lawmakers coming to terms in defining a monopoly. A 2012 Wall Street Journal article, "Ten Things Cable-TV Companies Won't Say" states that a 2011 survey by the Federal Communications Commission showed that 61.5% of customers still only had one main choice of cable provider.
The Techdirt.com article "Quantifying Comcast's Monopoly Power" does a good job of putting the ever expanding Comcast monopoly into perspective.
As pointed out in the Techdirt.com article, "For Comcast, its market share ignores its interest in Hulu, NBC Universal, and other content industries."
Through NBCUniversal, Comcast owns the NBC Television Network and related properties, numerous local NBC stations including New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Comcast also owns numerous cable TV networks which includes MSNBC, Syfy, USA Network, and the Weather Channel Companies.
In addition to owning the Comcast Sportsnet in many major cities, Comcast also owns the Philadelphia Flyers and the Wells Fargo Center via Philadelphia-based sports and entertainment company Comcast Spectacor .
The long list of Comcast properties includes Universal Pictures, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, and Universal Parks and Resorts.
The Business Insider puts it into perspective with "... The Insanely Long List Of Things Comcast Would Own After Buying Time Warner Cable."
The 800-pound gorilla known as Comcast
Comcast is not only a giant internet service provider, but an ever expanding provider of services on the internet. Through mergers of television networks and movie studios NBCUniversal was created, which in turn was acquired by Comcast.
Comcast hopes to acquire Time Warner Cable. According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index, "Cable giants Comcast and Time Warner Cable have the most dissatisfied customers."
Comcast continues to expand, and hopes to grow bigger. Their customer service rating is horrible, and they hope to acquire a company that is equally bad. Comcast wants the world to believe the result is in our best interest.
Merriam-Webster defines "800-pound gorilla" as one that is dominating or uncontrollable because of great size or power. Does that describe Comcast?
The fight for the internet
The discussion of net neutrality is often focused on control of bandwidth. Comcast's stake in the net neutrality fight is not only about the amount of internet bandwidth they control, but the extensive amount of internet content they provide.
Internet activist organizations celebrated victory in the recent FCC net neutrality vote taking a jab at Comcast by flying a plane with a " Don't Mess With the Internet" banner over Comcast's corporate headquarters in Philadelphia
The political influence Comcast has over the US Congress suggests that the fight for the control of internet is far from over.
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