RSSJudge Refuses to OK Telco Mergers
By Ed Oswald | Published July 25, 2006, 2:25 PM
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan told lawyers representing the interests of both SBC and AT&T and of Verizon and MCI that he could not give final approval to either merger unless he received more information. While both have been given the go-ahead by the FCC, the courts have not yet decided if the mergers are in the public interest.
Sullivan first ordered a review of the mergers earlier this month, after he questioned if the mergers benefitted the general public. "Through the eyes of a layperson, the mergers, in and of themselves, appear to be against public interest given the apparent loss in competition," he wrote at the time.
The Justice Department was to respond as to why Sullivan may be mistaken, however apparently the agency's response was not good enough for the judge. "The court is not currently in a position to grant or deny the proposed consent decree," he said. The DOJ will sift through documents and provide those it felt are useful, it responded.
Several smaller telecommunications companies as well as interest groups have already complained to the court, asking the court to review the mergers. Sullivan has indicated he may hold a hearing at a later date on whether the mergers should be allowed to stand - something the companies and the government have voiced their opposition to, although he now says that may be premature.
Critics of the Bush administration say it has not acted forcefully enough in approving new mega-mergers, which has hurt smaller companies. Unlike other antitrust challenges, this particular case does not come out of any legal action from opponents. Rather, an independent judicial review of the settlements is granted by powers Congress awarded to federal judges in the 1970s.
I'll be interesting to see if (a) this judge can effectively "undo" the merger efforts, and (b) whether the affected telcos will win on some sort of appeal. This is really up in the air (pardon the pun)
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|Everything that was SBC is now AT&T in the midwest. I dont think they would repaint/logo the service trucks without some sort of OK of the merger. Not to mention the millions spent on advertising "The New AT&T"
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|Sounds like bad news for Net Neutrality, all of these telecom companies merging. I doubt this serves the public interest at all.
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|Rolling the clock back to 1984. Good 'ol AT&T, you can't forget your Ma after all.
I'm surprised that politicians would allow this. Fewer companies mean fewer opportunities for bribes, er, I mean contributions.
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|I thought both of these mergers were approved long ago. Didn't the SEC or some gov't agency give a go-ahead?
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|I thought so, too... http://www.verizonbusiness.com/ is the merger of Verizon and MCI. And our business accounts from MCI/Worldcom are now all handled by Verizon Business.
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|Read the original article:
http://www.betanews.com/...ecom_Mergers/1152547014
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|I live here in teh mid-west. since thy have have integraded databases so fat problems with everything. no one knows whats going on. billing is horrilbe. they won't cancel my services when requested. its all messed up. They even say dsl is avalible in areas it is now leaving me spending $150+ on a phone line and equiptment for DSL that never exhisted...
Its all a monopoly. go away from dsl and regualr phone service go to http://www.claritytelusa.com and get them $31.50 a month including taxes. unlimited calling in the us and all features. just need high speed internet. they have phone numbers in way many more places than vonage and thoes other companys. Then can port almost any exhisting number too so you can keep your current number...
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