Albany

State regulators late Wednesday said they would delay voting on the planned $45 billion takeover of Time Warner Cable by Comcast, the second time the vote has been delayed.

Citing the complexities of the case, the state Public Service Commission said it plans to vote on the deal by the end of the year. The latest delay raised speculation on Wall Street that the deal may be in peril.

Shareholders were jarred earlier in the week when President Barack Obama urged federal regulators to approve stringent new "net neutrality" rules that would essentially make Internet providers like Comcast and Time Warner Cable subject to rate regulation like public utilities.

Net neutrality in its purest form would also prohibit companies from blocking the content of competitors or making certain content providers such as NetFlix pay more to use their broadband networks or ensure fast download speeds.

Analysts have said that such regulation would reduce the value of the deal between Comcast and Time Warner Cable, although both companies have vowed to push on regardless. It's unclear how far the Federal Communications Commission will actually go when it writes new net neutrality rules that were struck down earlier in the year by a federal court.

However, there is no indication that the PSC is looking at the net neutrality rules in the Comcast case as much as it is seeking consumer protections and concessions from Philadelphia-based Comcast. The New York part of the deal is valued at about $3 billion, with 2.2 million customers at stake.

"Comcast's proposed acquisition of Time Warner is a complex transaction," PSC spokesman James Denn said Wednesday night. "The PSC fully expects that it will complete its review by year's end."

Some consumer advocacy groups have argued that Comcast would likely raise rates once it bought Time Warner Cable, although the company has denied that. A public interest group based in Albany called New York's Utility Project also recently won a case to have Comcast and Time Warner Cable reveal sensitive corporate information to the public in light of the deal. However, the documents have yet to be released. With the delay, the public may get a chance to see those documents before the vote.

Comcast spokeswoman Sena Fitzmaurice said Wednesday that the company understands the PSC's decision.

"We continue to work with the (commission) on their regulatory review of the transaction, and acknowledge their desire to extend the deadline so they can complete the process," Fitzmaurice said. "We believe we have successfully demonstrated the benefits our investment will bring to residential and commercial customers across New York."

lrulison@timesunion.com • 518-454-5504 • @larryrulison