By Alina Selyukh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Federal Communications Commission officials studying the proposed merger of Comcast Corp (NASDAQ:CMCSA) and Time Warner Cable Inc (NYSE:TWC) are scheduled to brief FCC commissioners' staff on their review on Wednesday, according to two sources familiar with the plan.
It was not certain whether the briefing would disclose the specific way the FCC reviewers would recommend for the agency to rule on the proposed $45 billion (30.15 billion pound) merger but it would unveil the regulators' latest thinking about the concerns raised by critics of the deal.
The merger briefing was also expected to address the pending $48 billion deal between AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) and DirecTV, according to one of the sources.
The sources could be identified because the planned briefings have not been made public.
Comcast's merger with Time Warner Cable would combine the nation's two largest cable companies, which do not directly compete against each other in any markets. Opponents, however, have particularly focused on the combined company's broadband market reach, worried about its potential gatekeeping power.
The FCC has to decide that the deal is in the public interest and the Justice Department has to rule that it does not harm competition for the merger to go through.
Comcast has pushed back against criticisms, arguing the deal would bring faster Internet speeds and better video services to more consumers.
The company's officials were expected to discuss the merger with the Department of Justice antitrust reviewers on Wednesday in the latest of its ongoing series of meetings there, according to a separate source familiar with the matter.
Six senators on Wednesday called on regulators to reject the merger, following a Bloomberg report on Friday that antitrust lawyers at the Justice Department were nearing such a recommendation to senior officials there.