Charter gets FCC green light to complete TWC, Bright House acquisitions

Charter Communications (NASDAQ: CHTR) got the thumbs up from FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler for its pending acquisitions of Time Warner Cable and Bright House, creating a new powerhouse consumer and business service player.

However, the approval comes with a number of conditions: build out broadband access to 2 million U.S. residents who currently don't have it, and a provision that it will not engage in usage-based pricing of internet services.

When it completes these deals, Charter will also become an even larger business services provider with a larger set of fiber assets and greater Ethernet reach into key market verticals such as health care and hospitality. They will become a larger challenger to fellow cable MSO Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) as well as large telcos like AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) in the business segment. FierceCable has this coverage.