Thursday, October 27, 2005

U.S. Gov't Approves Two Huge Telecom Mergers

An AP newswire article by Jennifer C. Kerr, via The Washington Post, reports that:

Federal antitrust regulators on Thursday approved two multibillion-dollar telecommunications mergers: SBC Communications Inc. and AT&T, and Verizon Communications Inc. and MCI Inc.

The Justice Department attached some conditions to the mergers, requiring Verizon and SBC to divest some local fiber-optic network facilities in 19 metropolitan areas.

Without the condition, the mergers would have resulted in higher prices for certain customers in eight metropolitan areas in Verizon's territory and 11 metropolitan areas in SBC's area, the Justice Department said in announcing approval.

The Federal Communications Commission still must sign off on the deals. The agency is scheduled to vote on the mergers Friday at its monthly public meeting, though the decision could slip to next week.

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