Competition concerns linger despite safeguards
Even with the guardrails, some advocates warn the merger could further concentrate power in an already tight market.
Lindsey Skolnik, manager at the California Alliance for Digital Equity, said declining competition often leads to higher prices and fewer choices.
“Recognizing that declining competition in the marketplace ultimately leads to increased concentration of power over broadband pricing and service offerings, this potential outcome is deeply worrisome, especially in the midst of California’s affordability crisis,” Skolnik said.
Skolnik noted that broadband pricing in California is largely shaped by five major providers — Comcast, Charter, AT&T, Cox and Verizon-Frontier — which together serve about 97% of the state’s 10.7 million broadband subscribers.
That field could narrow further. Charter Communications announced in May 2025 that it offered to buy Cox Communications for roughly $34.5 billion, a move that would shrink the “Big 5” to a “Big 4.” No timeline has been set for when or if that deal will close.
As consolidation accelerates, California’s bet on the Verizon-Frontier merger rests on one question: whether binding promises can keep pace with an industry racing to grow bigger, faster and more powerful.
