Will the merger between Spectrum and Cox save you money?

Spectrum and Cox announced today that the companies plan to merge. The deal, worth $34.5 billion, would mean that six million Cox customers will ultimately become Spectrum customers.

Current Cox customers may get the chance to switch to new bundled plans from Spectrum or keep their own plans, according to the joint press release from the companies.

Right now, Spectrum customers are getting a better deal than Cox customers.

What is Spectrum saying it will do for customers?

If the merger goes forward, Spectrum is promising the following benefits to the Cox customers it would acquire:

• No annual contracts
• No early termination fees
• Transparent pricing
• Same or next-day technician dispatch in case of problems
• 100% U.S.-based customer service
• Credits for outages longer than two hours

The deal will also be good for Cox employees, according to the joint statement. If they stay on after the merger, they will enjoy the following:

• Pay of at least $20 per hour
• Medical, dental, and matching 401(k) benefits
• Free or discounted internet and TV service
• Tuition-free undergrad and certificate programs
• The option to participate in a stock repurchase plan

How do services from Cox and Spectrum compare?

Spectrum and Cox provide internet, TV, mobile, and home phone services across their respective footprints. Both deliver services primarily through coax cable connections, but both own fiber internet backbones and offer fiber-to-the-premises connections to a small number of customers.

Cox imposes data limits of 1.2TB on most plans, while Spectrum does not. Both companies raise prices after certain promotional periods.

Here’s a look at starting prices (not including equipment and fees).

If you were to sign up today, you would find that Spectrum offers a better starting price for 500Mbps.

However, you wouldn’t have a real choice because the companies’ footprints rarely overlap. Instead, you’d probably be comparing prices with one of these companies and local fiber or 5G home internet competitors.

Here’s a look at the footprints of each, based on data from the Federal Communications Commission.

Spectrum and Cox cable internet footprints

How big will Spectrum be after the merger?

Under its parent company Charter Communications, Spectrum provides internet service to about 30 million customers. It also provides 10.4 million lines of mobile service (but many of those customers may also be internet and TV customers).

Spectrum is losing internet customers quarter after quarter, but its plan to acquire Cox could add another 6.3 million customers to its books. The company is also planning to acquire a small company called Liberty Communications (GCI), and that would add another 155,800 customers.

In comparison, Xfinity is the nation’s biggest cable internet provider in the nation. It had 51.4 million customers as of the end of the first quarter of 2025.

What happens next?

The proposed Cox and Spectrum merger still needs to be approved by the shareholders. If that happens, the deal will require regulatory approval from agencies like the Federal Communications Commission.

A similar deal between Frontier and Verizon was approved May 16, just hours after the company agreed to end its diversity, equity and inclusion programs. However, it took several months to work through the process

We don’t know how long the Cox and Spectrum merger could take, but it will likely take several months at minimum.

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