According to CNet News, the Federal Communications Commission has canceled its meeting in which it was supposed to vote on the proposed $80 billion merger of AT&T and BellSouth.
The FCC had planned to vote on the merger during its regular open meeting on Thursday, but removed it from the agenda and postponed the vote until Friday.
The apparent cause of the first postponement was the FCC split between Democrats and Republicans on the merger. Chairman Kevin Martin, a Republican, had been pushing for the deal to be approved without any restrictions, according to CNet sources. But the two Democratic commissioners, Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps, were upset over the Department of Justice unconditional approval of the merger earlier this week.
In an effort to sway the Democrats to their side, AT&T apparently submitted alternative proposals to the FCC on Thursday, according to a story first published by Reuters. Even though the Republicans control the commission with three of five seats, it's crucial for at least one of the two Democrats to approve the merger, since one of the Republicans, Robert McDowell, has said he will not vote on the merger, because he had worked for a group that represents competitors to AT&T and BellSouth before joining the FCC.
"We firmly believe, as do three foreign countries, 18 state commissions and the Department of Justice???every regulatory or legal entity that had an obligation to examine the benefits of this merger???that no conditions on this merger are necessary for this combination to be a public benefit," said Michael Balmoris, an AT&T spokesman. "However, we are open to discussing with the Democratic FCC commissioners reasonable conditions on the merger in order to obtain unanimous approval, so long as they do not affect our ability to deliver merger benefits to customers and shareowners."
For more information, check out the article FCC vote on AT&T/BellSouth merger postponed.
