The Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger has been delayed yet again

The Federal Communications Commission has once again put a hold on Comcast’s controversial proposed acquisition of Time Warner Cable, saying it needs more time to review documents in the case. The commission said on Monday that it is extending the deadline for its planned review period on the deal, this time due to a cache of some 31,000 newly-discovered documents from TWC, which the FCC had originally requested in September.

U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Monday once again paused its review of the proposed $45 billion merger of Comcast Corp and Time Warner Cable Inc, citing delays in getting documents from Time Warner Cable. The FCC is studying whether the merger, which would combine the two biggest U.S. cable companies, is in the public interest. It had self-imposed an informal 180-day countdown for the review, which will now be paused at day 104 until January 12. The FCC said it learned this month that Time Warner Cable had improperly withheld more than 7,000 documents the regulators had requested, based on an “inappropriate claim of attorney-client privilege.” The agency learned later that more than 31,000 requested documents were missing due to a vendor error.