The global investment bank Jefferies & Company Inc. this week initiated coverage of the cable- and satellite-TV sector, and recommended that its clients buy shares of Comcast, Time Warner Cable and DirecTV.

The New York-based investment firm pointed to the growth cable operators are poised to generate from DOCSIS 3.0 and WiFi technology, along with the expansion of cable MSOs into the enterprise market. Jefferies also predicted that an FCC petition filed by the National Cable & Telecommunications Association will spark mergers between major cable MSOs and competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs).

"We expect the FCC to issue a favorable ruling on NCTA's petition to exclude cable and CLEC combinations from Section 652 of the Telecommunications Act," Jeffries said in its research report. "Given the near universal support in FCC filings, the notable lack of opposition from AT&T and Verizon, we believe approval for the petition will be granted some time during [the third quarter]."

Jefferies also placed a hold-rating on the stocks of Charter Communications, Cablevision and Dish Network. The firm issued its 109-page research note on the cable sector the day before Comcast is scheduled to release second-quarter earnings. Time Warner Cable is schedule to report its second quarters on Thursday.

See the Report: Cable in the second quarter of 2012