Groups Petition FCC to Deny Charter-Cox Merger

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19, 2025 – A coalition of public interest and labor groups has petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to deny Charter Communications’ $34.5 billion bid to acquire Cox.

In a 32-page petition filed Tuesday, Public Knowledge, the Communications Workers of America, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, and the Center for Accessible Technology argued the merger would create “unchecked gatekeeper power” over internet distribution, raise prices, deepen digital inequities, and weaken worker protections.

The petitioners’ filing directly contradicts the wave of support made public last week by state and local chambers of commerce, which argued the consolidation would fuel broadband investment, improve employee wages and benefits, and generate broader economic benefits. Petitioners said the opposite was more likely. 

Charter and Cox, they wrote, have not met their statutory burden to prove the deal serves the public interest. The combined company would become the nation’s largest cable and broadband provider, controlling the exclusive last-mile connection to more than 37 million subscribers and 70 million homes and businesses across 46 states.

Labor concerns were prominent. The petition cites benefit reductions for long-term Cox employees, Charter’s history of “unfulfilled job commitments from previous mergers,” as well as recent customer service layoffs, and what petitioners describe as the Charter’s “history of resisting worker organizing efforts."

“The merger would further entrench market power over labor. Without meaningful protections, the consolidation threatens job quality and workers' rights,” CWA signatories Nell Geiser, the union’s director of research, and Hooman Hedayati, senior strategic research associate for telecommunications policy, wrote in the petition.

“This consolidation would result in substantial public interest harms including increased gatekeeper power over internet distribution, diminished competition, higher prices for consumers, and unequal treatment of underserved communities,” it states. 

The groups warned the merged entity would eliminate competitive pressure that might encourage improved low-income offerings. 

Without firm requirements for affordability programs, digital literacy efforts, anti-discrimination safeguards, and community investment, the deal could run afoul of Section 60506’s digital discrimination rules and worsen persistent disparities in broadband access, they said.

Petitioners urged the FCC to deny the merger outright, or at minimum impose conditions stronger and more permanent than those adopted in Charter’s 2016 acquisition of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks.

Roughly 50 comments were submitted on the proposed merger before the Nov. 18 deadline. Replies are usually due 14 days afterward, but the FCC may adjust that timeline as it continues to resume normal operations following the shutdown.