FCC Delays AT&T/BellSouth Vote To Air Approval 'Concessions'

Telecom Policy Report, Oct 16, 2006

In pointing out approvals from the DoJ, three foreign countries and 18 states that contained no conditions the companies, the statement also pointed out the carriers are "open to discussing with the Democratic FCC commissioners reasonable conditions on the merger in order to obtain unanimous approval, so long as they do not affect our ability to deliver merger benefits to customers and shareowners, given the intensely competitive environment in which we operate."

Interestingly, some Republic politicians arguably were a bit less diplomatic. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-Texas) and Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) issued a joint statement complaining that the AT&T/BellSouth application for transfer of control was made on March 31, and that the FCC has conducted a thorough review with at least 60 entities filing more than 10,000 initial comments and almost 600 replies.

"We are concerned by the commission's failure to act on the application this week after such a thorough review and a complete record," they said. "We certainly hope that the delays requested by members of the commission are substantive in nature, although the commission has had ample time to debate the merits of AT&T's acquisition of BellSouth. The commission has a responsibility to act expeditiously on the AT&T/BellSouth application so that consumers will have an opportunity to reap the benefits that will emanate from a stronger video and broadband provider in BellSouth's nine-state region."

The Competitive Telecommunications Association (CompTel, McDowell's former employer) and the Public Knowledge advocacy organization praised the delay, including the postures taken by Copps and Adelstein. Those groups and others like the Alliance for Competition in Telecommunications and the Competition Coalition chaired by the Media Access Project have expressed disappointment and disapproval of all the mergers and the DoJ 's recent AT&T/BellSouth approval.

The AT&T/BellSouth merger flap also has spilled over into the Tunney Act- mandated federal court review of the SBC/AT&T and Verizon/MCI consent agreements with DoJ being handled by Judge Emmit Sullivan of the of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C.

Suggested links for readers:

DoJ Approval Statement:

http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2006/October/06_at_692.html

The FCC's Notice:

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-2035A1.pdf

Copps/Adelstein Letter:

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-267893A1.pdf

Martin Letter:

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-267892A1.pdf

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