FCC restarts clock on AT&T/T-Mobile USA deal

The Federal Communications Commission said it has re-started its informal 180-day review on AT&T Inc.’s (T) proposed acquisition of T-Mobile USA Inc. following the submission of additional information from AT&T.The FCC noted that as of Aug. 26, the review is at day 83 under the time clock.
“We have now received AT&T’s answers to our specific questions as well as AT&T’s confirmation that it believes our record is complete with respect to the models,” Rick Kaplan, chief of the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, noted in a filing. “Our understanding is that, unless specifically prompted by a request from the commission or the Department of Justice, AT&T will not be submitting any further revisions to the models. Based on this understanding, we are restarting the informal clock effective today.”
The FCC stopped the review proceedings earlier this month when it announced that it wanted to coordinate the review process with an ongoing review of AT&T’s attempt to acquire 700 MHz spectrum assets from Qualcomm Inc.
The FCC noted earlier this week that it had asked AT&T for additional information regarding its planned LTE deployments in light of a leaked document that showed the company could match coverage it would attain from the $39 billion acquisition with an additional $3.8 billion in spending using its current assets.