Fergie's Tech Blog

U.S. Senators Press FCC Chairman on Telecom Merger Conditions

An AP newswire article, via SiliconValley.com, reports that:

The nation's chief communications regulator on Thursday defended a public statement in which he said he wouldn't enforce some conditions imposed on AT&T Corp. as a condition of approving its buyout of BellSouth Corp.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin was challenged on his statement during a hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee. Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, characterized Martin's Dec. 29 statement as meaning he "did not intend to stand by the deal that was reached.'' If Martin disagreed with the settlement, Inouye asked, "do you think you had an obligation to withhold your vote?''

The $86 billion AT&T-BellSouth Deal was approved that day on a 4-0 vote that was the result of extensive negotiations among the two companies and the commission's Republican and Democratic members.

Martin's statement, which was also signed by Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate, stated that some of the negotiated conditions were "discriminatory and run contrary to commission policy and precedent.''

posted by Fergie @ 2/01/2007 12:48:00 PM