You folks probably don't have much to say on the Comcast-TWC merger ... FCC extends deadline for comments anyway

The FCC has extended the deadline for people wishing to send in comments on the proposed merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable.

The commission said on Friday that it would give the public until 29 October to file their opinions on the proposed $42.5bn deal between two of the largest cable providers in the country.

The FCC had set 8 October as the deadline, but was shifted after Comcast chipped in its two cents.

The FCC today described Comcast's dossier as "voluminous, numbering nearly 850 pages," adding it "contains new information not part of the initial application." So that's why everyone's got a little more time: there's plenty more bedtime reading.

The extension is the latest turn in the campaign by Comcast and Time Warner Cable to win approval for the mega-tie-up. Aside from skeptical regulators, the companies have faced opposition from Netflix, which fears that allowing the deal will result in a virtual monopoly for Comcast that will allow the telco to raise prices and extract further fees from broadcasters and websites.

Usually a minor part of the decision-making process, the FCC's comment system has been thrust into the spotlight when two million Americans used the system to voice their opinions on the commission's Open Internet deliberations. ®