(Bloomberg) -- Charter Communications Inc. should be allowed to merge with a larger media or telecom rival to stay competitive against technology companies that are unregulated and also vie for internet audiences, Liberty Media Chairman John Malone said at an investor day Thursday.
He suggested Comcast Corp., Cox Communications or T-Mobile US Inc. as possible merger candidates.
Regulators would do well to let Charter combine with “anyone that would improve cost effectiveness of the services they provide,” Malone said. “Tying an industry’s hands behind its back and allowing big tech to run wild in every direction that they choose to run in, I think, is inappropriate.”
Malone, a pioneer in the pay-TV industry, has been restructuring some of his holdings recently. This week Charter, the largest US cable-TV provider, agreed to merge with Malone’s Liberty Broadband Corp., the company’s largest shareholder.
“I think regulators would be prudent to take into account a couple things,” Malone said. “The world has changed.”
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