Stalemate Keeps AT& T-BellSouth Merger Off of FCC's Agenda
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Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin J. Martin said yesterday he did not know how soon it would consider AT&T's proposed $86 billion acquisition of BellSouth after the deal was left off the agenda for Wednesday's meeting because of a continuing stalemate between the commission's...
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The rumors of a Nextel Communications&#39; combination with Sprint aren&#39;t ringing the same regulatory alarm bells as the larger acquisition of AT&amp;T Wireless by Cingular Wireless.
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In court filing, the Justice Department tries to fend off criticism of analysis approving mergers between AT&T and SBC and Verizon and MCI.
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The proposed merger of Sprint Corp. and Nextel Communications Inc. could face a shaky start as the companies work to run and eventually merge two wireless technologies without losing a ton of money or customers.
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Concerns fade over congressional interference in XM-Sirius deal.
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Company is holding back high-speed fiber service out of fear that it will have to lease the links to rivals at below its own cost.
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Verizon Communication Inc.'s wireless partner on Tuesday distanced itself from discussions on a potential bid for Sprint Corp.
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Rep. John Conyers says unnecessary political divisions have brought the Federal Communications Commission to a policy standstill.
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Providers don't yet offer set-top boxes that use CableCARD, which could spur competition.
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(InfoWorld) - The U.S. Congress adjourned Friday without passing a much-debated broadband bill or strengthening network neutrality rules. The wide-ranging broadband bill would have streamlined the franchising process that telecom companies such as AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. need to go through to offer Internet Protocol-based television service in competition with cable TV. But advocates of net neutrality rules pressed Congress to hold on to the broadband bill unless it included a provision prohibiting broadband providers from blocking or slowing competing Internet content. Congress' failure to pass the broadband bill "shows the power of the issue with net neutrality," said Jim McGann, spokesman for the It's Our Net Coalition, a group calling for a net neutrality law. "Some lawmakers ignored net neutrality at their peril." Democrats take control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives when Congress reconvenes in January, and the prospects for a wide-ranging broadband bill may be diminished. Republicans have generally pushed for the bill, while many Democrats raised objections based on concerns about the lack of net neutrality rules and about provisions that they said would allow the telecom providers to skip poor areas with their new television services. The House version of the broadband bill would have required VOIP (voice over Internet Protocol) providers to offer customers enhanced 911 emergency dialing service, and it would have allowed municipal governments to offer broadband data and video services. The Senate version would have permanently extended a tax moratorium on Internet-only taxes such as access taxes. Net neutrality advocates will continue to press Congress to pass a law protecting open access on the Internet, McGann said, although he declined to speculate on its chances in the new Congress. "We're going to, as much as we can, educate members about the issue," he said. The broadband bill will also lose a major champion in Congress next year. Verizon, one of the large broadband providers pushing for streamlined video franchising rules, will refocus its efforts on state legislation next year, a company spokesman said. Verizon is also watching the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which may also act on broadband regulations, said David Fish, a Verizon spokesman. "The federal campaign raised the issue to a higher visibility," Fish said. "We've made big strides toward video choice this year, and expect continued progress in 2007." Beyond the broadband bill, some tech groups said Congress' post-election lame-duck session produced mixed results. In its final days, Congress approved an extension of a R&D (research and development) tax credit, which allows U.S. companies to get a tax break of up to 10 percent of R&D spending. The credit expired in 2005, and many tech groups called on Congress to reinstate it so that the U.S. could stay competitive with other countries offering R&D tax breaks. Congress approved an extension through the end of 2007, even though some tech groups want the tax credit to be made permanent. Congress also approved an expansion that could add US$1 billion to $2 billion to the program, which has cost about $7 billion a year. Tech groups applauded the extension of the R&D tax credit, as well as Congress' decision to extend permanent normal trade relations to Vietnam. The R&D tax credit action was "long overdue," said William Archey, president and chief executive officer of AeA, a tech trade group. But groups representing large tech vendors complained that Congress failed to increase the 65,000-person limit for H-1B visas, the program used to hire highly skilled foreign workers. Congress also failed to make changes to the U.S. patent system, although many large tech companies want improvements in the quality of patents and a weaker patent enforcement system. By failing to act on H-1Bs, patents and a fiscal year 2007 budget, Congress "ultimately failed to make the grade,â Phil Bond, president and chief executive officer of the Information Technology Association of America, said in a statement. Tech worker groups have opposed expansion of the H-1B cap above the current 65,000 visas a year, saying many U.S. tech workers remain out of work. Small inventors have opposed many changes to the patent system, including a tech-backed proposal to make it tougher for investors to get court injunctions against accused patent infringers.
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Federal Communications Commissioner Robert M. McDowell announced yesterday that he would disqualify himself from voting on AT&T's proposed purchase of BellSouth on ethical grounds, depriving the FCC of a potential swing vote that could have broken the stalemate among its Democratic and Republican...
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AT&T will participate in the FCC's wireless auction, but hasn't decided whether to bid for the open-access 700 MHz band.
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The proposed merger of Sprint and Nextel Communications could face a rocky start as the companies work to run and eventually merge two wireless technologies without breaking the bank or losing customers.
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In 1997, when rumors flew that regional phone giant SBC Communications Inc. and AT&T Corp. might agree to a $50 billion merger, Reed E. Hundt, who was Federal Communications Commission chairman, called such a deal "unthinkable."
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Court should not have blocked the company&#39;s Sprint takeover bid after the merger was abandoned. LUXEMBOURG  - The European Commission made a bad call when it blocked a takeover bid by US telecoms
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(InfoWorld) - Kevin Martin, chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), is trying to get the ball rolling toward a decision on AT&T Inc.'s proposed acquisition of BellSouth Corp. The commission appears to be deadlocked 2-2 on whether to approve the deal. The fifth vote that could break that tie belongs to Commissioner Robert McDowell, who is likely to be disqualified because he has worked for a carrier lobbying group, according to news reports. The US$67 billion deal would combine two of the nation's biggest service providers in a company that would include Cingular Wireless LLC, currently a joint venture of the two companies. Consumer advocates and other critics have slammed the plan. AT&T has negotiated with the government and agreed to some conditions, but the two Democrat Commissioners, Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein, still oppose the acquisition. Martin last week wrote a letter to tell key members of Congress he was asking the FCC's general counsel to consider letting McDowell vote, an FCC spokesman confirmed Monday. Under the Code of Federal Regulations, McDowell could vote if the counsel determined that the government's interest in having him participate outweighed "concern that a reasonable person may question the integrity of the agency's programs and operations." The companies announced the planned acquisition in March, and the U.S. Department of Justice approved the proposed deal without conditions in October. An FCC vote on it has been delayed several times.
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Vonage and AT&#38;T, still locked in a price war, are separately planning new features in a battle for VoIP customers.