FCC grants approval of AT&T's Alltel acquisition despite concerns over local competition

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved AT&T's $780 million acquisition of rural network Alltel (owned by parent company Atlantic Tele-Network) after earlier delaying the move over competition concerns.

The FCC still has some reservations about the deal, noting that "the proposed transaction will likely cause some competitive and other public interest harms in several local markets." AT&T is addressing these concerns by committing to:

• deploy its own 4G HSPA+ service in Alltel cell areas within 15 months,
• deploy 4G LTE service at all current Allied cell sites that will be integrated into the AT&T network, and at which AT&T holds AWS-1 or Lower 700 MHz Band B or C Block spectrum and where high speed backhaul service is currently available280 to AT&T within 18 months,
• offer CDMA voice and data roaming services, consistent with applicable Commission rules, over Allied’s 3G EV-DO network until at least June 15, 2015,
• honor the prices, terms, and conditions of the roaming agreements that it is assuming from Allied,
• offer postpaid Allied customers handsets comparable to their existing handsets, at no cost to the customer and without requiring a contract extension, and
• filing quarterly reports with the Commission for a period of three years following the date on which the transaction closes for purposes of reporting on the status of its implementation of these commitments