Two Wireless Mergers Top the FCC's To-Do List

Less than two months until Election Day, Bush administration officials at agencies all over Washington are making a final push to change or enact rules before the White House changes hands. Earlier this year, budget officials gave agencies a deadline to propose new rules, but regulators at various agencies are trying to shove issues out the door. The Federal Communications Commission has drawn up an ambitious to-do list, topped by review of two pending wireless mergers, for the last few months of the Bush administration. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin on Thursday said the agency will try to finish its review of Verizon's pending acquisition of Alltel and Sprint Nextel's purchase of Clearwire before year end. The agency is also hoping to tackle issues related to the rates phone companies pay each other to connect calls, to tee up two airwave auctions and to decide on whether to allow high-tech companies to use vacant, unlicensed television airwaves for a next-generation wireless gadgets.