FCC favorably views Verizon, T-Mobile deal

Over the past two weeks, Federal Communications Commission officials have met with Verizon Wireless officials, expressing concern that the company’s deal with cable companies would give Verizon too much dominance in the wireless market. The company’s spectrum holdings would be far richer than other wireless carriers and make it difficult for competitors such as T-Mobile to compete. T-Mobile had been a vocal critic of Verizon’s deal with cable firms.

Verizon appeared to be working aggressively to appease concerns raised by regulators, and a person familiar with the FCC’s thinking said the move to swap spectrum with T-Mobile was a significant milestone in the regulatory review. “The announcement is significant and unprecedented,” said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the review is private. The spectrum deal between Verizon and cable firms could be decided by Aug. 7 or shortly after, a soft deadline the FCC has set for the completion of its review, the person said. Verizon’s marketing deal with cable firms continues to draw concern. The Justice Department is leading an investigation of that portion of the spectrum deal and may decide to only approve the spectrum purchase if the companies agree to scale back their marketing arrangement, people familiar with the reviews said.