FCC Delays Vote on Telecom Mergers

[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Jeremy Pelofsky]
As negotiations dragged on and on over approving the mega-mergers of SBC-AT&T and Verizon-MCI, the FCC finally postponed its open meeting Friday until this morning at 11am (eastern). FCC Chairman Kevin Martin had proposed approving the deals without any conditions, but, apparently, has not convinced two of his colleagues to join him -- or reach a compromise. One source close to the matter said some of the conditions under consideration include 1) freezing for two years or more the wholesale rates that SBC and Verizon charge competitors for leasing parts of their networks, 2) forcing Verizon and SBC to offer high-speed Internet service without requiring customers to also sign up for local telephone service and 3) ensuring a subscriber can surf where they choose on the Internet.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyID=2005-10-29T000914Z_01_HO900463_RTRUKOC_0_US-TELECOMS-MERGERS-POSTPONE...

See FCC Notice: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-261928A1.doc

* Final federal agency may approve telecom mergers today
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/money/20051031/6b_story31.art.htm