Market Watch is reporting that the AT&T-BellSouth merger delay will end soon. According to the business news site, the Federal Communications Commission has scheduled a vote for Oct. 12 at the behest of Chairman Kevin Martin, who has insisted on trying to meet the agency's informal 180-day deadline on reviewing proposed mergers.
However, the deal also has to win approval from the Justice Department's antitrust division. While the two agencies tend to consult each other through the review process and Justice typically issues its ruling several days or weeks before the FCC, there have been exceptions. The most notable occuring when the FCC was the first agency to block the DIRECTV-Dish Network merger a few years ago.
According to Market Watch, regulatory analysts have long predicted that the AT&T-BellSouth merger would pass regulatory muster with few conditions attached because the companies do not compete in many markets and they co-own Cingular Wireless, the nation's biggest mobile company. The merger has already won approval in all U.S. states in which the two companies have a large presences, as well as the foreign countries in which AT&T operates.
For more information, check out the article AT&T-BellSouth merger set for vote.
