D.C. Plays Charter-TWC, Open Internet Waiting Game

Washington continued to wait with collective bated breath for the FCC to circulate its order on the Charter-Time Warner Cable merger, still expected to be approved, and a federal court's decision on the FCC's net neutrality rules, but it looks like they will have to wait until at least next week.

According to multiple sources, the Charter-TWC item is still with the lawyers and won't be circulated until at least next week.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia is not on any timetable for releasing its opinion, but it has been almost four months since oral argument (Dec. 4) in ISPs' challenge to the FCC's Open Internet order. Many court watchers, including FCC chairman Tom Wheeler, were looking for a decision by the end of this month.

The court released only one case Friday morning—it usually posts them online at a little after 10 a.m.—and it was not net neutrality.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.