The FCC agenda for next Wednesday doesn’t include a vote on the AT&T-BellSouth merger, reports Information Week. FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin said yesterday he did not know how soon it would consider AT&T’s proposed $86 billion acquisition of BellSouth, reports the Washington Post
Martin, an advocate of the merger, told reporters he was “anxious” to set a date for the vote, which would create the country’s largest provider of telephone, wireless and broadband services. AT&T and BellSouth have waited more than seven months for the commission to act despite Martin’s efforts earlier this year to win quick approval of the transaction without conditions.
In a letter to the FCC, the consumer groups stated: “Given that the combined entity will control half of the business and residential telephone lines in the nation, it is the public, not AT&T or BellSouth, which has the greatest stake in the merger’s rejection or approval, with or without conditions. Regardless of how Commissioner McDowell votes on the merger, the public interest is jeopardized.”
The consumer groups included the Consumers Union, Consumer Federation of America, Free Press, Public Knowledge, and U.S. PIRG.
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