Charter CEO says Time Warner purchase isn’t like Comcast deal

The CEO of Charter Communications is defending his company’s planned purchase of Time Warner Cable.

The size of the deal, estimated to be worth around $55 billion, has drawn comparisons to the proposed acquisition of Time Warner by Comcast that was killed by regulators earlier this year. But Charter’s CEO said in interviews Thursday the transactions are fundamentally different.

{mosads}“This is a much smaller deal — and we’re not a vertically integrated company,” Tom Rutledge told The Washington Post. “Our broadband penetration, even [if you count it] at the highest speeds, 25 megabits per second and above, is less than 30 percent. The Comcast-TWC merger would’ve made that a company of over 60 percent.”

Rutledge’s comments echoes statements he made earlier Tuesday, as he looked to portray the deal as a positive for consumers.

“We’re a very different company than Comcast, and this is a very different transaction,” Rutledge said on a Tuesday investor call, according to National Journal.

The company says the deal, combined with a separate acquisition of the smaller Bright House Networks, will allow it to lower prices and increase Internet speeds. It will also create the second largest Internet provider in the country after Comcast, to be called New Charter.

The Comcast-Time Warner deal met resistance from regulators at the Department of Justice and Federal Communications Commission and was ultimately abandoned.

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts was nothing but congratulatory Tuesday morning, shortly after the rumored deal was confirmed.

“This deal makes all the sense in the world,” he said in a statement.