Charter gets FCC permission to buy Cox and become largest ISP in the US

Charter Communications, operator of the Spectrum cable brand, has obtained Federal Communications Commission permission to buy Cox and surpass Comcast as the country's largest home Internet service provider.

Charter has [29.7 million][1] residential and business Internet customers compared to [Comcast's 31.26 million][2]. Buying Cox will give Charter another [5.9 million Internet customers][3]. The FCC [approved][4] the deal on Friday, but the companies still need Justice Department approval and sign-offs from states including California and New York.

Opponents of Charter's [$34.5 billion][5] acquisition told the FCC that eliminating Cox as an independent entity will make it easier for Charter and Comcast to raise prices. But the FCC dismissed those concerns on the grounds that Charter and Cox don't compete directly against each other in the vast majority of their territories.

[Read full article][6]

[Comments][7]

[1]: https://corporate.charter.com/newsroom/charter-announces-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-2025-results
[2]: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/01/comcast-keeps-losing-customers-despite-price-guarantee-and-unlimited-data/
[3]: https://ir.charter.com/static-files/17f74638-d569-448c-be88-76d00f9c6fff
[4]: https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-approves-charter-cox-combination
[5]: https://corporate.charter.com/newsroom/charter-communications-and-cox-communications-announce-definitive-agreement-to-combine-companies
[6]: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/03/fcc-lets-charter-buy-cox-says-no-reason-to-worry-about-higher-internet-prices/
[7]: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/03/fcc-lets-charter-buy-cox-says-no-reason-to-worry-about-higher-internet-prices/#comments

A Cox service van is parked at a Cox Communications warehouse on May 16, 2025 in Springfield, Virginia.


https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/03/fcc-lets-charter-buy-cox-says-no-reason-to-worry-about-higher-internet-prices/