FCC MAY BE CLOSE TO ALLOWING AT&T'S PURCHASE OF CENTENNIAL

摘要

The FCC may approve AT&T's $944 million purchase of Centennial this week, an eighth-floor official said. Chairman Julius Genachowski last week circulated a draft order including conditions consistent with commitments made by AT&T last month, and the commissioners aren't expected to get hung up in a long negotiation, the official said. The chairman seems determined to finish work on the order by the deal's anniversary Saturday, the official said. Most of the FCC's concerns about the purchase concerned competition in several cellular markets in Louisiana and Mississippi, the official said. But the Justice Department dealt with the concerns last month when it required AT&T to sell assets in eight markets for approval of the deal, the official said. Centennial shareholders approved the sale in February. The FCC's blessing is the last approval that the companies need. nnThe deal probably "will get through without anything particularly onerous getting added," said analyst Paul Gallant of Concept Capital's Washington Research Group. But it's always possible for the commissioners to change conditions recommended by the staff, he said. The merger isn't an industry-changing deal, so the FCC probably will wait until later to take up controversial issues like handset exclusivity, Gallant said. AT&T offered the FCC commitments in a letter Oct. 22, including to honor Centennial's roaming agreements until they run out, or for 48 months after the closing date, whichever is later. AT&T said it would operate Centennial's CDMA network in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands for 18 months after the closing and would limit dealings with Latin American carrier America Movil.