AT&T–BellSouth deal called 'breakthrough' for consumers

USA TODAY, January, 2007 by Leslie Cauley

The Federal Communications Commission's handling of the $85 billion AT&T-BellSouth merger sets a "new baseline" for protecting the interests of consumers, FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein said in an interview over the weekend. The FCC's approval of the merger on Friday allowed the deal to close immediately.

To secure the FCC's blessing, AT&T agreed to a list of consumer-friendly concessions. Among them: For the next 30 months, AT&T agreed to sell "naked" DSL -- meaning consumers don't have to buy any other service from AT&T to get the DSL service -- for just $19.95 a month. That's less than half the $44.95 that AT&T now charges. AT&T also agreed to a "net neutrality" provision that will require the company to treat all broadband services, its own as well as rivals',...