Cable giants Charter Communications and Cox Communications are merging in a $34.5 billion deal as the industry continues to contend with the impact of streaming services and related trends such as cord cutting. Charter and Cox are among the cable-based companies that have been focusing more on residential broadband businesses in recent years. The corporate name of the newly combined company will be Cox Communications, to be led by current Charter President and CEO Chris Winfrey, while Charter’s Spectrum cable and broadband will serve as the consumer-facing brand. The merger will involve $21.9 billion of equity and $12.6 billion of debt.

“The combination, which must pass muster with antitrust authorities, would create one of the biggest TV and Internet providers in the United States,” notes The New York Times, providing a new rival for leading broadband companies including Comcast and Verizon.

“Charter has 12.7 million cable customers and 30 million broadband customers in 41 states,” reports MediaPost. The company “posted 181,000 in cable TV subscribers losses during its most recent quarter.”

Cox Communications, which is a division of Cox Enterprises, currently has 6.5 million cable, broadband and mobile customers across 30 states.

“The two telecom companies say the merger will allow them to ‘aggressively compete’ against larger broadband companies and mobile providers that have rolled out Internet plans of their own,” according to The Verge. Both companies “face an increasing threat from streaming services like Netflix. Sports-focused streaming packages like those offered by Comcast, DirecTV, FOX, and soon, ESPN, also let viewers get their sports fix without a cable subscription.”

This is not the first time that Charter and Cox “have discussed a merger,” NYT writes. “They held talks 12 years ago, and John Malone, the telecom billionaire who is a major Charter shareholder, had named Cox last fall as one of the company’s potential transaction partners.”

“This combination will augment our ability to innovate and provide high-quality, competitively priced products, delivered with outstanding customer service, to millions of homes and businesses,” Winfrey said in a press release. “We will continue to deliver high-value products that save American families money, and we’ll onshore jobs from overseas to create new, good-paying careers for U.S. employees.”