Sprint, T-Mobile Ask FCC to Delay Verizon's AWS Buy
Feb 9, 2012, 1:27 PM by Eric M. Zeman
Sprint, T-Mobile USA, and DirecTV have asked the Federal Communications Commission to pause its review of Verizon Wireless's proposed acquisition of 122 AWS spectrum licenses from a handful of cable companies. At issue, say the signees, is the cross-selling agreement that Verizon has also struck with the cable companies to promote one another's services. Though Verizon has provided some information about the agreement, it has witheld some details and maintains that the cross-selling agreement doesn't fall under FCC purview. "As a result of the incomplete submissions by the Applicants, neither the Commission nor interested parties have an adequate basis upon which to assess the public interest implications of the proposed transactions," the companies wrote in a letter to the FCC. They are asking that the FCC halt its review of the deal until Verizon provides all the necessary information, and then reset the 180-day review clock back to zero. Verizon is paying $3.6 billion for AWS licenses from Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Networks. It also has a separate deal with Cox Communications to buy its AWS assets for $315 million.
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