Roughly a year after swallowing up Time Warner Cable, Charter Communications could merge with yet another massive broadband and TV provider: Verizon. The telecommunications giant is reportedly exploring a combination with Charter, the nation's second-largest cable company, according to the Wall Street Journal. A deal between the two could create a massive company controlling access to home broadband, cable TV, and mobile voice and data services, accelerating what some analysts describe as a “mad scramble” of consolidation in the communications industry. Verizon serves 114 million cellphone subscribers, 4.6 million TV customers and 7 million Internet subscribers; Charter has 17 million TV customers and 21 million Internet subscribers. Cable companies are also trying to shore up their businesses as consumers, fed up with rising bills and attracted to online alternatives, increasingly cancel their service.

Source: Washington Post January 26, 2017 16:26 UTC