WASHINGTON – The Justice Department announced Thursday it will order changes to protect consumers in deals between Verizon and four of the nation's largest cable companies.

If left unchanged, the department said, the agreements would harm competition by reducing incentives to compete — resulting in higher prices and lower quality for the public.

Late last year, Verizon Wireless announced deals to buy spectrum from Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable Inc., Bright House Networks and Cox Communications. The deals call for the companies to market each other's products in their stores.