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US Regulators Approve AOL-Time Warner Merger
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Thursday, December 14, unanimously approved America Online's (AOL) purchase of Time Warner after the companies pledged to protect consumer choice for the next generation of Internet services and content.
The combination of AOL, the world's largest Internet service provider, with the media and cable conglomerate Time Warner would create a vast company spanning movies, magazines, television programming and cyberspace.
An FTC spokesman said commissioners voted 5-0 to clear the deal, worth US$109 billion and the largest in US history, but it still faces the lower hurdle of gaining approval from the Federal Communications Commission.
The breadth of the deal has raised fears among regulators, competitors and consumer groups that AOL and Time Warner together would dominate the market for consumer high-speed Internet service and a vast array of news and entertainment programming.
The approval came after AOL and Time Warner made a last minute offer to increase competitors' use of cable lines and log complaints from rivals about obtaining Time Warner content.
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