Martin Will Seek Comment on AT&T/BellSouth

By John Eggerton
( Broadcasting & Cable )
published

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin will delay a vote on the merger of AT&T and BellSouth at the request of commission Democrats.

He has also agreed to put out various proposed modifications to the $67 Billion deal for public comment for a period of 10 days.

The FCC had been scheduled to vote on the issue Oct. 12, then Oct. 13, but Democrats Michael Copps and Kevin Adelstein Friday asked him to delay it, saying they wanted more time to consider the new proposals by AT&T to modify the merger and get public input on them.

The meeting was cancelled and Martin said the FCC will revisit the issue in a meeting Nov. 3. He also said said the dialog over the merger has been "constructive."

John Eggerton
John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.