FCC Clears Adelphia Sale

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 14: The Federal Communications
Commission has approved the $17-billion sale of Adelphia Communications
Corporation to Time Warner and Comcast Corporation.

In clearing the deal that was first announced in April 2005,
Adelphia also permitted the exchange of certain cable systems between Time
Warner and Comcast, and the redemption of Comcast’s interests in Time Warner
Cable and Time Warner Entertainment Company.

The FCC says it “found that the transactions, as
conditioned, serve the public interest and comply with all applicable statutes
and Commission rules. The Commission also found that the potential public
interest harms of the transactions, as conditioned, are outweighed by the
potential public interest benefits.”

Those benefits include network upgrades and the accelerated
deployment VoIP local VOD programming.

The FCC did, however, place conditions on the deal:
"Time Warner and Comcast must make their affiliated RSNs (regional sports
networks) available to other [platforms]," FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin
said. Time Warner and Comcast must also enter into binding arbitration if a
deal can’t be reached with competitors on local sports programming.

Adelphia, with 4.8 million subscribers, was the
fifth-largest cable TV provider in the U.S. Its systems will be shared between
Time Warner and Comcast. The platform declared bankruptcy in 2002, and its
founder John Rigas was later convicted on fraud charges.

The deal is expected to close by the end of this month.