FCC delays vote on AT&T-BellSouth merger

IDG News Service - The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has pushed back its vote on AT&T Inc.'s proposed acquisition of BellSouth Corp. and will take public comments on the deal.

A meeting set for today to consider the deal, as well as network neutrality issues, was canceled. Responding to a request by commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin scheduled another open meeting Nov. 3 where the commission will consider the proposed deal unless the issue has been resolved before then.

Copps and Adelstein, along with some competitive carriers, consumer groups and other critics, have called for significant conditions on the approval of the $67 billion buyout. The commissioners said in a letter that new proposals to address their concerns had come within the past 48 hours and they wanted to open the discussion to public comment.

The new proposals will go out for comment for 10 days, Martin said in his response. Under FCC procedures, those would be available as soon as the agency can put out a public notice.

Copps and Adelstein, the two Democrats on the five-member commission, have criticized the effect of the deal on competition. One of two Republicans on the panel, Robert McDowell, is likely to sit out the vote because he has worked as a lobbyist for a carrier group, according to news reports. That raised the specter of a tie vote on approving the buyout.

In their letter, the two Democrats slammed the proposed deal in the aftermath of consolidation in the U.S. carrier industry over the past year.

"Thus far, the record raises serious questions about whether this combination as proposed would satisfy the public interest, convenience, and necessity," they wrote.

The U.S. Department of Justice's unconditional approval of the acquisition on Wednesday makes it even more important to have an open decision process with public comment on the BellSouth plan, they wrote.