Gigabyte March on Washington

Consumer and public interest groups are fighting back as media reports say FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin has circulated a draft order approving the $67 billion AT&T Inc.-BellSouth Corp. merger. The document is said to contain few protections for competition or consumers, mirroring the limited approvals required for the Verizon Communications Inc.-MCI Inc. and AT&T-SBC Communications Inc. deals late last year.

The news comes as a federal judge in Washington, D.C., examines whether the Department of Justice (DoJ) placed enough requirements on the RBOCs to ensure competition once AT&T and MCI were taken off the market. Judge Emmet G. Sullivan is waiting for more evidence from the DoJ before he decides whether the government’s requirement that AT&T and Verizon divest some of their unused fiber networks was sufficient and good for public interest. He has stated he is not prepared to rubber-stamp the DoJ’s consent of the megamergers.

On Monday, representatives of a coalition of groups calling for greater consumer and competition protections said the FCC is acting too soon (Washington insiders say commissioners well could vote on the AT&T-BellSouth merger at its October meeting). They cited price hikes, job losses and violations of privacy on AT&T’s part, as reasons not to approve the combination. 

Reported by Kelly M. Teal - Phoneplusmag.com : Complete Article Here

Source (AP) 

Reps. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-WI) and John Conyers Jr. (D-MI), the chairman and the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, have asked the Justice Department to delay approval of AT&T Inc.'s
$67-billion purchase of BellSouth. In a letter to Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales on Wednesday, they asked for the delay until a federal judge decides whether SBC's purchase of AT&T, as well as Verizon's acquisition of MCI, were in the public interest.

On Thursday, the chairman of the Senate subcommittee that deals with antitrust matters, Sen. Mike DeWine (R-OH), added his voice to the cautionary chorus. He and the panel's top Democrat, Sen. Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, asked the Justice Department and the Federal Communications

Commission to consider imposing conditions on the acquisition "if they are necessary to help ensure that the telecommunications market remains open to new sources of competition."  Among their concerns: the amount of wireless spectrum that the combined companies would control. A day earlier, Kohl and Sen. Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, the senior Judiciary Committee Democrat, wrote a similar letter questioning whether the Justice Department had been approving buyouts too hastily, counter to the intent of federal law.

News release from the Judiciary House: PDF Letter: PDF

Freepress Action Alert

Freepress is reporting that former FCC Chairman Michael Powell buried evidence that showed media consolidation is harmful to local news reporting.

Powell suppressed a 2004 study to protect his friends in the corporate media lobby. It revealed that locally owned stations produced more local news than those owned by media giants -- such as ABC/Disney, Fox Television, Viacom and Sinclair Broadcast Group.

Free Press received the secret study after it was leaked to Congress. News of the cover-up comes at a time when Powell's successor, Chairman Kevin Martin, seeks to hand over control of more local news outlets to massive media conglomerates.

Powell commissioned the study in hopes it would show that consolidated ownership didn't negatively impact local communities. The Associated Press reported this afternoon that upon seeing the results, Powell ordered that "every last piece" of the study be destroyed.

The report, written in 2004, came to light during the Senate confirmation hearing for FCC Chairman Kevin Martin. Martin said he was not aware of the existence of the report, nor was his staff.

TelecomWeb Reports 

No More Time Warner In Time Warner Telecom
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