Antitrust Division Requires Changes To Agreement Between Verizon And Cable Companies

On August 16, 2012, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (the "DOJ" or the "Division") filed a complaint and entered into a proposed settlement with Verizon Communications Inc. (Verizon), Verizon Wireless, Inc. (Verizon Wireless) and four large cable companies, Comcast Corporation, Timewarner Cable, Inc., Bright House Networks, and Cox Communications (collectively, the "cable companies.").¹ Verizon Wireless is a wireless telecommunications provider whose parent Verizon offers voice, video, and internet services over a fiber optic network through its FiOS service that, according to the DOJ, competes with the cable companies in select markets. At issue is a series of agreements (the "Commercial Agreements") under which Verizon Wireless and the cable companies agreed to market and develop bundled "quad play" services that consist of Verizon Wireless' wireless services and the cable companies' wireline voice, video, and internet services. The