Groups map 'necessary' conditions for Comcast/NBCU

Industry and public interest groups this week stressed the need to rein in Comcast Corp's power over programming and pricing if it is allowed to buy a majority stake in General Electric Co's NBC Universal.

In a letter to the US Federal Communications Commission, Media Access Project's Andrew Jay Schwartzmann detailed "necessary" conditions on the proposed merger that public interest groups, companies and trade associations presented to FCC Commissioner Michael Copps this week.

They urged Copps to address competitors' need to carry programs from Comcast-NBCU as well as companies with distribution deals with Comcast.

"It is not enough to provide that Comcast may not withhold programming from competitors," the letter said, noting that limiting access to certain content through periods of exclusivity and other methods would also disadvantage competitors.

They also advocated for conditions to ensure fair carriage of content from independent programmers.

Comcast is awaiting approval from the US Justice Department and FCC to complete the merger, which would create a combined broadcast, cable, movie studio and theme parks business.

Public interest groups like Free Press and Public Knowledge had urged the Obama administration to reject the deal. They fear Comcast might charge other cable distributors higher fees to transmit NBC Universal-owned content, leading to higher cable bills, fewer independent programming choices and less competition.

But FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski circulated an order within the agency last month saying the deal would meet the required public interest standard, provided Comcast meets strict conditions meant to protect consumers and promote competition.

"We believe the draft FCC order as circulated ensures public interest benefits will be realized and will enable us to operate the NBC Universal and legacy Comcast businesses in an appropriate way," a Comcast spokesperson said.

The industry and public interest groups acknowledged that they were not privy to the details of the circulated order or its proposed conditions.

The meeting with Copps on Wednesday brought together public interest groups, the American Cable Association, Internet provider EarthLink and satellite TV providers DirecTV and DISH Network.

Attendees cited concerns that Comcast would have little incentive to promote Internet services not attached to higher-priced bundle packages with cable and telephone services.

"The merger will encourage and enable Comcast to raise the price of stand-alone broadband, which will harm consumers and threaten video competition unless a wholesale-based competitive offering is made available," the letter to the FCC said.

Wholesale broadband would require Comcast to make its broadband infrastructure available for rent to other companies which could then resell the Internet services.

But wholesale broadband, while a mechanism for ensuring competition, would not be a merger-specific issue as the deal would not affect Comcast's market share as an Internet provider.

An expedited process to file complaints was also noted by Schwartzmann as a must-have condition for the deal.

(Reporting by Jasmin Melvin; Editing by Richard Chang)