I have been reading about the Cox | Charter (Spectrum) merger.

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Whenever I see a major merger, I always ask the same question:

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Why?

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If it’s even remotely connected to the industry I work in, I tend to dig a little deeper.

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Here’s what I found.

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This deal appears to be much more about broadband, wireless and scale than traditional cable TV | video. Charter | Spectrum has been losing broadband and video subscribers. In Q2 2026 alone, Charter lost 172,000 internet subscribers and another 21,000 video subscribers. Meanwhile, Spectrum Mobile added 406,000 lines.

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That tells you quite a bit about where the business is going. The competitive landscape has changed dramatically.

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Cable companies aren't just competing and losing ground on video. They’re now competing against fiber, Verizon and T-Mobile fixed wireless, AT&T and Starlink for broadband and wireless customers.

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Consumers have more choices than ever.

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A quick personal example:

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While we were living in an Airbnb during the hurricane reconstruction of our home, I used T-Mobile fixed wireless for internet service. I expected it to be a temporary compromise. It was excellent. When we moved back home, I reactivated our fiber service. But if something happened tomorrow and I needed another option, I wouldn’t hesitate to use T-Mobile fixed wireless again. That experience made the changing broadband landscape very real to me.

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The Cox | Charter merger makes a lot more sense when you stop seeing it as two cable companies combining and start seeing it as two connectivity companies trying to gain scale in a market with a rapidly expanding number of competitors.

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The battle isn't just for the TV screen that has already been lost.

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It's for the connection to the home.