ALLTEL TAKEOVER, SPRINT-CLEARWIRE WIMAX MERGER APPROVED

摘要

The FCC approved Verizon Wireless' acquisition of Alltel and the Sprint Nextel-Clearwire WiMAX merger. But commission members expressed continuing concerns about the effect of the Alltel deal on wireless competition nationwide. The Verizon Wireless order requires the company to divest assets in 105 of 218 markets where the companies' businesses overlap. Verizon Wireless agreed to extend roaming agreements four years. That's two more years than the carrier had agreed to, to win Justice Department approval last week -- but three years less than the seven years that commission Democrats had sought. Verizon Wireless also agreed to maintain Alltel's GSM network indefinitely. Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein dissented in part and concurred in part with the order, saying they would have preferred the longer roaming extensions. nnThe FCC cleared the Sprint Nextel-Clearwire partnership with fewer reservations. "This item is better news because it creates a new competitor in the wireless broadband network," Copps said, contrasting the deal with the Verizon Wireless-Alltel merger. Copps noted that the companies agreed to open-access requirements that go beyond those imposed by the FCC for the 700 MHz C-block. Commissioner Deborah Tate said the new Clearwire could be the "third pipe" the FCC has been searching for, to compete in broadband with cable modem and DSL service. "Clearwire will possess the spectrum breadth and depth, technical expertise and financial resources necessary to construct a nationwide wireless broadband network," Commissioner Robert McDowell said. "By rationalizing the spectrum holdings of Sprint and Clearwire, the new Clearwire is well poised to create efficiencies, spread the substantial business risks, and raise the financing necessary to deploy a competitive, mobile WiMAX service."