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Senate hearing on Comcast, TWC merger set for March 26

According to Sen. Patrick Leahy, the hearing will give the Senate Judiciary Committee a chance to discuss Net neutrality, among other issues.

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Time Warner Cable and Comcast will go before the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 26 to discuss their merger plans.

Comcast made public earlier this month its plan to merge with Time Warner Cable in a deal valued at $45.2 billion. The deal would combine the two largest cable providers in the US, but speculation abounds that several antitrust concerns will need to be remedied before the deal can move forward.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who is chairman of the Judiciary Committee, announced the hearing on Monday and noted that the merger "touches on important policy questions about how Americans access these valuable [TV and Internet] services."

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), chairwoman of its Subcommittee on Antitrust Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, said she plans "to carefully scrutinize...the proposed agreement."

Interestingly, the discussion may extend to Net neutrality. In his statement, Leahy said that the hearing will allow the panel to discuss the "principles that have allowed the Internet to remain an open marketplace for ideas."

(Via Reuters)