F.C.C. Hopes to Wrap Telco Mergers by Christmas

Ars Technica reports: The Federal Communications Commission will try to resolve applications for two big wireless mergers by the end of this year, the agency's chair Kevin Martin says. In a brief statement last week, Martin said that he hopes to address the proposed Sprint/Clearwire and Verizon/Alltel transactions over the next three months.

As Ars has reported,Sprint Nextel and ClearWire announced their wedding in May: a joint WiMAX venture in which Sprint will own 51 percent and ClearWire 27 percent. The remaining stake will be bought by Google, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Bright House, and Intel Capital to the tune of $3.2 billion.

The new company will be called ClearWire, with enough spectrum on hand to provide WiMAX service to 140 million people in the United States in 30 months, according to their filing. The application also emphasizes that the new firm will let consumers "download and use any software applications, content, or services they desire, subject only to reasonable management practices and law enforcement and public safety considerations."

Meanwhile, Verizon announced its plan to gobble up Alltel in June. The former says its $28.1 billion purchase of the latter entity will create the biggest cell phone service in the U.S., even bigger than AT&T after its 2004 union with Cingular. "ALLTEL's customers--who generally reside in small- to mid-sized cities and rural areas--will enjoy the benefits of a seamless national network," the merger application promises, plus "award winning Verizon Wireless-quality services; and rapid access to broadband services."

Needless to say, AT&T has feelings about these matters, both of which require approval from the FCC. No sooner than you can say "Petition to Deny," the telco filed just such a document with the agency in August regarding the ClearWire proposal. AT&T's statement warned that the merger would represent "the largest consolidation of [Commercial Mobile Radio Service] spectrum in the Commission's history" and charged that the applicants asked for special treatment from the agency in the review process.

Sprint sees the matter differently. "We've provided the FCC with every piece of information that they've asked for," Sprint spectrum communications spokesperson Scott Sloat told Ars, and added that the company hopes to close the transaction in the fourth quarter of this year.

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