FCC Delays Vote on AT&T-BellSouth

The Federal Communications Commission has delayed a vote to approve the merger between AT&T and BellSouth after commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein demanded public comment on the deal.

The FCC was scheduled to decide the matter Thursday, but pushed the vote to Friday. Now, agency Chairman Kevin Martin says he will delay the vote further until November 3 in order to accept 10 days of public comment. He also asked the commissioners to express their concerns about the merger as soon as possible.

Copps and Adelstein, both Democrats, had sent a letter to Martin asking him for more time to negotiate on how to handle the merger. The deal was approved by the United States Department of Justice on Wednesday without any conditions - a move that irked the FCC commissioners.

Although two of the FCC's Republicans supported the mega-merger as is, the Democrats want to impose net neutrality restrictions. Specifically, they want to make sure the newly combined AT&T does not prioritize its Internet traffic over competitors.

The deal, initially valued at $67 billion, would create the nation's largest provider of wireless, Internet and phone services. In turn, members of Congress are pushing for more scrutiny of the deal. Rep. John Dingell sent a letter to the FCC on Thursday, asking the agency not to follow in the DOJ's footsteps.

"We ran short of time to gain final approval for the merger today, which is not uncommon in these matters," commented AT&T spokesman Michael Coe in a statement. "We look forward to the Nov. 3 FCC meeting, when we expect the FCC to complete its review, approve the merger and allow us to begin delivering the numerous benefits of the merger to consumers."