CWA Slams Verizon/SpectrumCo Deal It Suggests Is Imminent

The Communications Workers of America signaled August 3 it thought regulators were poised to approve the Verizon/SpectrumCo deal.

"Regulators looking to slam the door on our high-speed future," the group headlined a release slamming both the Federal Communications Commission and Department of Justice for "seem[ing] to have lost their focus on competition" on a deal they suggested was imminent. An FCC spokesman said no decision has been made, but the general read in Washington communications policy circles is that the deal will be approved, likely with conditions -- preventing Verizon from selling Comcast in its FiOS footprint -- and likely within the next month. That is based on the fact that the deal frees up wireless spectrum currently laying fallow -- something that the FCC is trying to do in other areas -- and involves a spectrum sale rather than a merger of companies, though the attendant cross-marketing agreements have deal critics concerned it will be a merging of interests that discourages competition. CWA sounded like the deal had already been done.