[1st-mile-nm] FCC approves CenturyLink, Qwest merger with conditions

[Marks, Jason, PRC]

I read this order a couple of days ago, and I think they (FCC) pretty much got it right. I am worried, however, that it may prefigure approval of the ATT/T-Mobile deal, justified by the imposition of regulatory conditions. Regulators often find the opportunity to "impose" regulatory conditions that would otherwise be beyond the regulator's jurisdiction to be very attractive. E.g., in Centurytel, ordering levels of DSL penetration and pricing concessions in what is supposed to be a unregulated market. (I put "impose" in quotes because I think I read that the Qwest/Centurytel conditions not just agreed to by the merging companies, they were initially proposed by them.)

Vis a vis ATT/T-Mobile, I am concerned that further consolidation and market concentration in the wireless sector will prove to be harmful to consumers in the long term.

Jason Marks

From: Richard Lowenberg [mailto:lowenberg at designnine.com]
Sent: Wednesday, March 23, 2011 01:23 PM
To: 1st-mile-nm at mailman.dcn.org <1st-mile-nm at mailman.dcn.org>
Subject: [1st-mile-nm] FCC approves CenturyLink, Qwest merger with conditions

FCC approves CenturyLink, Qwest merger with conditions

Mar 23, 2011 12:02 PM

http://broadcastengineering.com/news/fcc-approves-centurylink-qwest-merger-with-conditions-20110323/

The FCC<http://www.fcc.gov/> approved the merger March 18 of CenturyLink<http://www.centurylink.com/> and Qwest Communications International<http://www.qwest.com/>.

As a condition of the approval, the FCC imposed protections against the risk of harm to competition and ensured the merged entity will live up to its commitments to expand its network and launch a major broadband adoption program for low-income consumers, an FCC statement said.

Based on the companies’ agreement to certain conditions, the FCC found that the potential public interest benefits of the merger are likely to outweigh the potential harms.

Among the conditions for approval were steps to improve broadband adoption for low-income households. Specifically, the conditions include requiring the launch of a major broadband adoption program focused on connecting the millions of low-income consumers in the combined company’s 37-state territory.

The company also must offer qualifying households broadband starting at less than $10 per month and a computer for less than $150 and keep the window open for five years for qualifying consumers to sign up. And, the company must make a significant annual commitment to marketing, outreach and digital literacy training and include detailed reporting on outcomes and an independent analysis of the program’s effectiveness.



------------------------------------------------------------
Richard Lowenberg
P. O. Box 8001,  Santa Fe, NM  87504
505-989-9110 off.; 505-603-5200 cell
------------------------------------------------------------

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www2.dcn.org/pipermail/1st-mile-nm/attachments/20110323/925f5ffa/attachment.html>