FCC APPROVES PACTEL-SBC MERGER PLAN.Byline: Jeannine Aversa Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. The government cleared the way Friday for SBC (1) (SBC Communications Inc., San Antonio, TX, www.sbc.com) A large, national telecommunications company that grew from a multitude of local and regional companies, including Southwestern Bell, Pacific Bell and Nevada Bell, into a single, unified brand by 2002. Communications Inc. and Pacific Telesis Group to merge, the first big local phone companies that have gotten such permission. In taking the action, the Federal Communications Commission Federal Communications Commission (FCC), independent executive agency of the U.S. government established in 1934 to regulate interstate and foreign communications in the public interest. rejected arguments by long-distance companies AT&T Corp. and MCI Communications Corp. and others that the combination would harm competition. The FCC (1) (Federal Communications Commission, Washington, DC, www.fcc.gov) The U.S. government agency that regulates interstate and international communications including wire, cable, radio, TV and satellite. The FCC was created under the U.S. said the $16.7 billion deal - combining two of the seven regional Bell operating companies that were spun off in the 1984 breakup of AT&T - would serve the public interest. The Justice Department had cleared the deal in November. The deal still needs approval from California regulators. SBC and PacTel announced their plans to merge in April, around the same time Bell Atlantic Corp. and Nynex - also spun off in the AT&T breakup - stated their intentions to combine in a $22.7 billion deal. A law enacted last February deregulating de·reg·u·late tr.v. de·reg·u·lat·ed, de·reg·u·lat·ing, de·reg·u·lates To free from regulation, especially to remove government regulations from: deregulate the airline industry. the telecommunications industry is fueling consolidation. SBC's and PacTel's merger is not expected to yield immediate changes for the millions of consumers who buy phone service from the two companies. PacTel operates in California and Nevada; SBC's customers are in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. |
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