Stalemate Keeps AT& T-BellSouth Merger Off of FCC's Agenda

STALEMATE KEEPS AT&T-BELLSOUTH MERGER OFF OF FCC'S AGENDA
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Alan Sipress]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin J. Martin said yesterday he did not know how soon it would consider AT&T's proposed $86 billion acquisition of BellSouth after the deal was left off the agenda for Wednesday's meeting because of a continuing stalemate between the commission's Republican and Democratic members. Chairman 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. The proposed acquisition has dramatically increased in value since it was presented to the FCC because of rising stock prices. If approved, the merger would reunite much of the AT&T telecommunications empire broken apart by the federal government 22 years ago because of concerns over competition.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/14/AR2006121401682.html
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MERGER HOLD UP
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Editorial Staff]
[Commentary] The merger of AT&T and BellSouth has the support of Big Labor, was approved by the Justice Department without conditions in October, and would help consumers by bringing more competition to telecom amid enormous technological change and business ferment. But the merger has been held up for months at the Federal Communications Commission, thanks to the political maneuvering of Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein. They want the combined company to accede to "Net neutrality" commitments that go well beyond the FCC's own policy paper on the matter. The Republican majority of the Commission cannot approve the merger because one commissioner, Robert McDowell, agreed during his confirmation not to vote on any matter to which his former employer, the telecom industry group Comptel, is a party. Now, even though the FCC General Counsel has approved a McDowell vote, the WSJ says he "could incur the trumped-up "ethics" wrath of the new Democratic committee chairmen who are allied with the FCC Democrats." In short, the Democrats on the FCC and in Congress are engaged in a kind of bad cop-worse cop routine with Mr. McDowell: Either he must stay recused on the merger so they can extort more concessions from the new AT&T, or he can vote for the merger and risk spending the rest of his days answering subpoenas. Never mind that if Mr. McDowell does stay recused, the two companies might very well let the merger die rather than submit to regulation that would hamper their ability to recoup their investment in laying broadband pipe. The real conflict of interest, the WSJ concludes, is the Democrats' willingness to carry water for Google and MoveOn.org in the Net neutrality debate.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116615333373851152.html?mod=todays_us_opinion
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