California official recommends approval of Comcast-TW cable merger but with conditions

An administrative law judge for the California Public Utilities Commission has recommended approval of the proposed merger of Comcast and Time Warner Cable, but with significant conditions to address concerns that the merged company will be too great a concentration of market power.

Judge Alj Bemesderfer issued a proposed decision on Friday. The PUC may take up the proposed decision at its March 26 meeting.

The conditions include a requirement that Comcast offer, for a period of five years, standalone broadband service at the same price that Time Warner Cable offers it. That is currently $14.99-per-month for a speed of 3 Mbps. The conditions also would require Comcast to expand enrollment in Comcast's Internet Essentials program, broadband service that is offered to low-income customers. Comcast would be required to enroll at least 45% of eligible households within two years of the merger.

Among the other conditions are ones requiring Comcast to offer all of its customers in the state to use Roku or other independent programming platforms on the same basis that TW Cable did before the merger.

It also calls for Comcast to connect schools and libraries, and to make improvements to customer service. It also calls for Comcast to make upgrades to broadband service in underserved areas. It also would prohibit the company from opposing efforts by city governments to launch their own Internet service.

"The merger presents Time Warner customers with the real possibility that they will receive poorer customer service, fewer service offerings, and fewer program choices from Comcast after the merger than they received from Time Warner before the merger," Bemesderfer wrote in justifying the conditions.

He noted, however, that the PUC's jurisdiction was largely limited to the companies' offerings of voice communications and broadband deployment, not video cable service. He expressed concerns over the ability of content providers to reach Comcast customers.

"Instead of the choice between two large cable systems delivering high-speed broadband to upwards of 80% of the households in California, the edge or content provider will have only one choice, Comcast," he wrote.

Comcast said that the proposed approval was an "important step" but nevertheless expressed reservations about some of the conditions.

Its executive vice president David L. Cohen said that some of the proposed conditions were ones that they could "work with," but nevertheless said that "at least some of the suggested conditions lie outside the authority of the CPUC or are unrealistic."

"For example, some of the penetration rates and time frames are simply unattainable under market conditions, especially with populations that have been slowest to adopt broadband," he wrote. "Deeper broadband penetration among all populations is a goal we share, and one we've worked very hard on for the nearly two decades we've been marketing broadband."

The FCC and the Justice Department are reviewing all aspects of the proposed merger, along with state attorneys general.

Groups like the Writers Guild of America, the Greenlining Institute and the Consumers Union had argued against the merger before the state PUC.

© 2015 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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Car buyers, 
dealers thinking presidential

When you think of Presidents Day, images of family gatherings and barbecues on the beach don't immediately come to mind. No, this holiday is about one thing, and one thing only — getting a good deal on a car.

"There are certain dates you use as benchmarks, and for car dealers in Massachusetts, Washington's birthday is a focal point to get people thinking about car sales," said Robert O'Koniewski, executive vice president of the Massachusetts State Automobile Dealers Association. "It's just a week or two before spring training for the Red Sox, people can see light at end of the tunnel. And by the third week of February, the Daytona 500 is running, so people are getting amped up about cars."

Edmunds, an automotive resource for consumers since 1966, evaluates vehicles and provides free information at its website, Edmunds.com. Features editor Mike McGrath — a Bay State native — lists recommended "best-value" buys in six segments, including five sedans, priced from the lowest MSRP. Check back on Monday for best choices among crossovers, trucks and SUVs.

2015 Honda Accord

"It's no accident that the Accord is a perennial best-seller," McGrath said. "Ample room, powerful and efficient four-and-six cylinder engines, a smooth ride and a darned nice interior add up to a vehicle that may not be the cheapest, but still feels like a great value." Americans bought 388,374 Accords in 2014, the fifth-most sold vehicle in the U.S., according to Autodata. (MSRP: $22,105, MPG: 27 city/36 highway)

2015 Ford Fusion

What would a list of reliable car values be without a Ford on it? "Without a doubt, the Fusion is the looker of the midsize sedan segment," McGrath said. "And thankfully, beauty here is more than skin-deep. The Ford drives great and has a host of niceties and safety equipment." And of note to snow-weary Bay Staters: "The Fusion's also available in all-wheel drive, a rare feature in this class," McGrath pointed out. (MSRP: $22,500, MPG: 25/37)

2015 Subaru 
Impreza

New England and Colorado are Subaru's top two U.S. markets. That's almost entirely due to the slick winter weather in those locales, and the fact that Subaru vehicles have standard all-wheel drive. And when the weather is nicer, the impressive handling makes for peppy driving. A price point that starts at just over $18,000 provides additional allure. (MSRP: $18,195, MPG: 28/37)

2015 Volvo S60

Available all-wheel drive is a recommended option, but the front-wheel-drive base model Volvo can still negotiate all but the worst Mother Nature can deal out. Turbocharged engines provide power without slashing fuel efficiency. A bevy of "gee-whiz" standard features — Bluetooth compatibility, satellite radio, a USB port, and Volvo's City Safety system — also entice. The S60 is really a luxury car without a luxury car cost. (MSRP: $33,950, MPG: 25/37)

2015 Chevy Volt

It's not cheap, but Volt drivers will recover a lot of cost in fuel economy. "If you've got a short commute and can live with a four-seat car, keep this one on your list," McGrath said. The next-generation Volt arrives late this year, and its electric-only range will increase to 50 miles. (MSRP: $34,345, MPG: 101/93)

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White-out conditions mean retail blues in New England

BOSTON — New England is waist-deep in the white stuff and neck-deep in the red.

Historic snowfalls are costing state and local governments millions in plowing and other inclement weather expenses. They're also exacting a heavy toll on the regional economy.

And that's before yet another storm that could add a foot or more of snow in a region that's already seen 6 feet or more in some areas by the end of the holiday weekend.

Here's a look at how governments and businesses are coping:

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SNOW BUDGETS

Across the region, city and state governments say they're on pace to exceed their budgets for clearing snow and ice — if they haven't done so already.

Rhode Island's Department of Transportation has exhausted its $14 million snow removal budget for the year. Boston says it's nearly doubled its $18 million budget. And Connecticut towns have expended about half to two-thirds of their snow funds, according to the state Conference of Municipalities.

"What communities will do is plow first and figure out how to pay for it later because public safety is their top concern," says Geoffrey Beckwith, executive director of the Massachusetts Municipal Association.

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WHAT'S THE DAMAGE?

Estimates vary, but one oft-cited study of the economic impact of snowstorms suggests a one-day stoppage costs, at least in Massachusetts, about $265 million.

That includes lost wages for workers and lost profits for companies on goods and services that likely won't be recouped later, according to 2014 study by IHS Global Insight, a Massachusetts-based firm.

A one-day stoppage includes heavy snow days when people are urged to stay home. It also includes days when commuter and subway lines are shut down.

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RETAIL: A MIXED BAG

Retail stores have been among the most negatively impacted by the storms, with messy roads and traffic jams driving consumers away from malls and commercial centers.

But Rajiv Lal, a retailing expert at the Harvard Business School, said the picture among retailers is not all grim. Some retailers, like hardware and winter apparel stores, are enjoying brisk sales during what's a normally quiet time of the year, thanks to snow-related purchases.

Lal warns, though, that people working for hourly wages at retail businesses are the most vulnerable when stores are forced to close or limit staff during storms. That, in turn, has ripple effects for the regional economy.

"If they don't get to work, they don't get paid," he said. "And if they don't get paid, then their consumption is seriously impacted, from basic necessities like groceries to fast food and things like that."

___

PRESIDENT'S DAY DEALS

Car dealerships were among the retailers hoping for a strong President's Day weekend to help make up for an abysmal sales month for sales, but yet another storm could cause big problems for the holiday weekend.

"I'm set up for a big weekend, but it just really depends if people come out," said Matt Davenport, a sales manager at Colonial Volkswagen, which was among a number of dealerships showcasing rows of gleaming vehicles and touting special deals along a packed stretch of Mystic Valley Parkway in Medford, Massachusetts, earlier this week. "The people that do come in, we're going to sell them a car. You're going to get a good deal if you come in a blizzard. My mindset, as a sales manager, is you're not going to get another customer, so a deal is better than no deal."

Robert Nakosteen, an economics professor at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, suggests car dealers and certain other retailers shouldn't fret: bad weather is simply delaying purchases customers will eventually have to make. "Car purchasers will probably come back," he said. "Same with appliances, and clothing, for the most part."

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VALENTINE'S DAY MEALS

Local restaurants have been trying everything to draw in customers during the snows, from touting bar snack promotions and three-course meal deals on their websites and social media.

On Twitter, a defiant hashtag even sprang up: #OpenInBOS, where downtown Boston food trucks to classic North End Italian eateries are telling customers they're open and ready to serve.

In a bid to help retailers, Gov. Charlie Baker declared "Valentine's Week" in Massachusetts and encouraged people to celebrate the holiday by buying gifts and dining out after the latest storm passes.

Still Bob Luz, president of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association, said the unrelenting succession of storms has had a "crippling effect" on the industry. Over the past three weeks, he estimates at least six days were essentially a total loss for the industry.

Those profits can't be recovered, but Luz said restaurants were hoping to bounce back with a respectable Valentine's Day weekend, despite the forecast.

"Restaurants are the cornerstones of neighborhoods," he said. "We need our neighborhoods to come into the restaurants and support the workers, who are also their neighbors."

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Associated Press writers Sue Haigh and Stephen Singer in Hartford, Connecticut, and Jennifer McDermott in Providence, Rhode Island, contributed to this report.

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Boston eyes garage site developer

The Walsh administration is fielding new redevelopment proposals for the shuttered, city-owned Winthrop Square garage in the Financial District, where former Mayor Thomas M. Menino once envisioned a legacy-building, 1,000-foot tower that would be the city's tallest.

The Boston Redevelopment Authority has issued a request for interest from developers after Trans National Group owner Steve Belkin — who originally planned to tackle that 1,000-foot tower back in 2006 — had reopened talks with the city about a scaled-down project. His latest proposal is a 740-foot tower that would incorporate his adjacent Federal Street property and include a 300-room hotel, offices, retail space and possibly condos. Belkin plans to respond with a proposal akin to that and said he's confident his project would provide the "best urban planning solution."

"Trans National Properties (TNP) is a critically important strategic abutter to the Winthrop Square Garage and the only developer who can create an iconic mixed-use office and residential tower by integrating this site with our existing building at 133 Federal St.," Belkin said in a statement yesterday. "Our project will be able to move forward more rapidly than any other project as a result of the extensive work we have done and the materials that have already been developed."

The city decided a new, formal search for a developer was warranted, according to BRA chief of staff Heather Campisano. The BRA solicited developer interest in 2006, and Belkin was the only respondent. The BRA board voted in 2007 to recommend the city designate Belkin as the developer, but the city never took formal action; the proposed tower height ran afoul of the Federal Aviation Administration, the Great Recession hit and Belkin shelved his plans.

"The market is obviously very strong right now," Campisano said. "We put it out there, and we'll see what comes back."

The city is looking to "create a project of significance with a mix of uses that will further anchor the Financial District," according to the request for interest.

It's unclear whether the size of the parcel at 47,738 square feet would preclude developers from constructing anything other than housing without access to adjacent sites. "It certainly makes it a potentially more attractive development site having control over an adjacent parcel," said David Begelfer, CEO of NAIOP Massachusetts, a commercial real estate development trade group.

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25 NY wineries taking part in Boston Wine Expo for 1st time

ALBANY, N.Y. — Gov. Andrew Cuomo says representatives from more than two dozen wineries across New York state are in Massachusetts for one of the premiere wine trade shows in the nation.

Cuomo says 25 New York wineries are participating in the Boston Wine Expo being held Saturday and Sunday at the Seaport Hotel and World Trade Center. The governor says it's the first time New York wineries are attending the Boston event, one of the largest wine-related gatherings in the Northeast.

Staffers with the state's Taste NY program will also be in Boston to promote the Empire State's wine industry. The state was named Wine Enthusiast magazine's Wine Region of the Year" last October.

The New York wineries represented at the Wine Expo include businesses located in the Finger Lakes, New York City and Long Island.

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The Ticker

Connector extends sign-up deadline

The Massachusetts Health Connector is extending until Feb. 23 the deadline to complete an application and pick a health plan.

The deadline had been tomorrow, but officials pushed it off a week because heavy snowstorms have made it hard for some people to sign up for insurance.

The Feb. 23 deadline for making a payment stays in place.

Connector officials said they wanted to give people extra time, given the burden many have had as they've had to dig out from the successive storms.

The Connector's call center won't be taking calls tomorrow due to the storm, but will make return calls to consumers who have requested them. It has expanded hours through Feb. 23, including weekend hours on Saturday, Feb. 21, and Sunday, Feb. 22, from 9 a.m.-3 p.m., and on Monday, Feb. 23, from 
7 a.m.-9 p.m.

Caesars suit vs. 
panel dismissed

A Massachusetts court has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Caesars Entertainment against the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. After the panel's background investigation on Caesars turned up concerns about an investor in the company, Suffolk Downs dropped the gaming giant from its resort proposal to win the single casino license for the Boston area in October 2013. Caesars was replaced by Mohegan Sun, which subsequently lost the bid to Wynn Resorts in Everett.

• Prelert, the leading provider of machine learning anomaly detection, announced that John O'Donnell has joined the company as chief financial officer.

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Company whips up ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ bear

If flowers and chocolate seem too blase this Valentine's Day, there's always the "Fifty Shades of Grey" Bear if S&M is your idea of romance, or if you just want to ride the tide that is taking theaters by storm.

Yes, the Vermont Teddy Bear Co. — that bastion of cute, cuddly, furry friends — now offers for $89.99 the Christian Grey Bear — named for the title character in the movie and the E.L. James trilogy on which it is based — complete with grey suit, handcuffs and mask.

"The movie was coming out, and we said let's do an adult gift bear focused on 'Fifty Shades of Grey,'" said Bill Shouldice IV, the company's president and CEO.

So last summer, Shouldice contacted James and had a sample made. She liked it, he said, with one exception: The blue eyes would have to be grey.

Vermont Teddy Bear made the change, and by yesterday, the bear was one of the company's best-selling items in recent history, Shouldice said, and was being sold on eBay for as much as $125.

Of course, it's not everyone's cup of tea.

"We're never going to make everybody happy," he said. "It was meant to be a fun, unique, adult gift. And so far, a lot of people agree with us."

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Baker: Show the love during Valentine’s Week

Gov. Charlie Baker yesterday declared next week Valentine's Week, urging people to patronize small businesses that have been "especially" hard hit by record snow.

"We want to urge everyone, once the storm passes, to get out and visit your Main Street businesses, your restaurants, your small businesses, and bring some life and vitality back into our communities," Baker said at a press conference with business leaders and Housing and Economic Development Secretary Jay Ash. "If you can safely, please get out and buy your loved ones something nice, not just tomorrow, but a few more times next week. And I think, frankly, after the kind of month we've had, I think we all earned it."

The governor said his Valentine's Week proclamation was driven, in part, by the fact that it's school vacation week, and many people will have more free time or will be looking for things to do with their kids.

"Both," he said, "would lend themselves sort of to that idea."

Valentine's Day accounts for $500 million in sales in the state, said Jon Hurst, president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts. But up to 10 inches of snow are expected today — mostly tonight — and another 3 to 5 inches are expected tomorrow.

"We lose these sales," he said. "They're never going to come back."

Dave Andelman, president of the Restaurant and Business Alliance, said that's devastating to many of the 300,000 people in Massachusetts who work in retail and another 300,000 who work in hospitality.

"These are really hard-working people who need these wages and these gratuities to make a living," Andelman said.

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Europe's Rosetta craft swoops for close look at comet

BERLIN — The European Space Agency has sent its Rosetta probe in for a close look at the comet it's been tracking for months, a swoop that scientists hope will provide them with detailed measurements and photos of its surface.

ESA tweeted that Rosetta passed just 6 kilometers (less than 4 miles) above the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko Saturday. It's expected to return images by Monday.

Rosetta has been flying alongside the comet since August and recently orbited at an altitude of around 26 kilometers (16 miles).

Rosetta in November released the Philae lander to the comet's surface. Philae returned reams of data before depleted batteries silenced it.

Mission controllers want to pin down Philae's location on the comet and hope its solar panel-powered battery will recharge as it nears the sun.

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Apples modified to resist browning receive federal approval

WASHINGTON — Don't expect to see them too soon, but they could be coming to your local grocery store — two types of apples genetically modified to resist turning brown after they're bruised or sliced.

The development could boost sales of apples for snacks, salads and other uses.

Arctic Golden and Arctic Granny Smith are being developed by a Canadian company, Specialty Fruits Inc. of Summerland, British Columbia.

The Agriculture Department gave its OK on Friday — saying the apples aren't likely to pose a plant pest risk and or have "a significant impact on the human environment."

The first Arctic apples are expected to be available in late 2016 in small, test-market quantities.

It takes apple trees several years to produce significant quantities, so it will take time before the genetically-modified apples are widely distributed.

"We can't wait until they're available for consumers," said the company's president and founder, Neal Carter.

Apples brown quickly after they are cut open and exposed to air. The browning-resistant varieties are considered especially desirable for use as pre-sliced apples, in fruit salad and salad bars, and in the manufacturing of juice.

Specialty Fruits said it is working on developing other browning-resistant apple varieties as well.

The nonprofit Center for Food Safety questioned whether browning-resistance will mask apples that no longer are fresh. The Environmental Working Group said the government's decision to allow marketing of the apples shows the need for mandatory, clear-labeling of genetically modified foods.

The Food and Drug Administration is not required to approve genetically engineered crops for consumption, but most companies will go through a voluntary safety review process with the FDA before they put them on the market.

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