FCC Approval of Qwest-CenturyLink Merger Nears

A Report and Order to approve the merger of Qwest and CenturyLink is on circulation at the Federal Communications Commission.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski presented other FCC commissioners with proposed merger approval with limited conditions, mostly voluntary commitments offered by the companies. The Justice Department and most states have already signed off on the deal. The companies announced the merger in a stock-and-debt transaction in April 2010. To gain FCC approval the companies recently offered a variety of voluntary commitments, including a timetable for upgrading subscriber broadband speeds and availability, discounted service to low-income customers and a limit on the funding that the combined company would receive from a federal phone subsidy program. Although it's possible that other conditions could be added by other FCC commissioners, they are expected to be "modest," according to a research note last week from Stifel Nicholaus telecom analyst Rebecca Arbogast.