ICLE Issue Brief Finds Proposed Charter-Cox Transaction Is a Pro-Competitive Response to a Converging Market
PORTLAND, Ore. (Sept. 17, 2025) — The proposed merger of Charter Communications and Cox Communications is a strategic response to a converging communications market increasingly dominated by multi-platform, vertically integrated technology companies, a new issue brief from the International Center for Law & Economics (ICLE) concludes.
The brief analyzes the proposed merger through a law & economics lens. It finds that the combination is primarily a geographic expansion that would not substantially lessen competition or remove a competitor from any local market, as there is almost no geographic overlap between the two companies’ service territories.
Moreover, by expanding Charter’s cable-wireless services to Cox’s existing customer base, it would enhance competition in the mobile-communications market, putting competitive pressure on traditional wireless carriers like AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile.
Authored by ICLE Seniors Scholars Eric Fruits and Ben Sperry and Director of Innovation Policy Kristian Stout, the brief finds the current communications landscape bears little resemblance to the distinct, siloed, and technology-specific markets of the past. The kinds of competitive concerns that the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) raised about earlier telecommunications mergers like the scuttled Comcast/Time Warner Cable deal are no longer relevant in today’s market, the authors argue. Online video is now a dominant force and competition in the broadband market has intensified with the growth of fiber, fixed wireless, and satellite services, they note.
Fruits, Sperry, and Stout also explain that the merger would allow the combined company to achieve greater economies of scale, leading to significant cost savings that could be reinvested into network upgrades and consumer-facing benefits, such as expanded broadband and mobile offerings. Fruits adds:
“The merger of Charter and Cox is likely to be a pro-competitive transaction in this dynamic and capital-intensive industry. This deal should be evaluated based on its effects on competition, not on speculative theories of harm or politically motivated demands. The evidence shows it will benefit consumers by accelerating investment, enhancing mobile competition, and ultimately offering lower-priced and higher-quality services.”
The full comments can be downloaded here. To schedule an interview with Eric, contact Jim Fellinger at [email protected].
About ICLE
The International Center for Law & Economics is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research center working with a roster of more than one-hundred academic affiliates and research centers from around the globe. ICLE scholars promote the use of law and economics methodologies to inform public policy debates.