AT&T announced its deal for DirecTV on Sunday, just days after the FCC moved forward with its controversial proposal to regulate how broadband providers must treat traffic over its networks and set rules for next year's auction of TV airwaves to wireless carriers. Those two crucial actions are expected to generate months of debate by themselves.
On top of that, the FCC must also weigh the transition to next-generation Internet-protocol phone networks and decide whether to allow Comcast Corp., the nation's largest cable and broadband company, to acquire its second-place competitor, Time Warner Cable Inc. Meanwhile, a possible Sprint Corp. bid for T-Mobile US Inc. lurks in the background and threatens to overburden the agency.
"This year holds some of the most important regulatory decisions and industry transformative transactions requiring FCC to work together effectively," said Gene Kimmelman, chief executive of the consumer-advocacy group Public Knowledge and a former antitrust official at the Justice Department.
A merger of AT&T and DirecTV would likely be reviewed by the Justice Department or the Federal Trade Commission for its impact on competition and would need approval from the FCC over whether the transaction is in the public interest. Such reviews typically take six to nine months, though the period can increase significantly depending on the complexity of the deal and the FCC's agenda, which is currently packed.
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