Fairly major news breaking right now.
Fed has conditionally agreed to T/Media One merger (CNBC).
We need to start digging for the details.
Anyone got information?
Here is Bloomberg:
quote.bloomberg.com
AT&T Purchase of MediaOne Group Wins U.S. Antitrust Approval
By Seena Simon
Washington, May 25 (Bloomberg) -- AT&T Corp., the No. 1 long- distance phone company, won U.S. antitrust approval to buy MediaOne Group Inc. for $59 billion and create the biggest U.S. cable television company after the companies agreed to divest some assets.
Under a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department, the companies agreed to divest Road Runner, the second largest U.S. high-speed cable Internet service provider, whose owners include MediaOne. AT&T has a controlling interest in Excite@Home, the biggest high-speed cable Internet service.
``The merger as proposed would have had an anticompetitive impact on the broadband market, '' said Joel Klein, head of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division. ``American consumers will be the ultimate beneficiaries.''
The merger of Englewood, Colorado-based MediaOne and New York-based AT&T requires separate approval from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission. AT&T has been trying for months to persuade the FCC to let it keep Liberty Media Group Inc., its programming subsidiary, and its 25 percent stake in Time Warner Entertainment.
AT&T and MediaOne will serve about 40 percent of households with cable-TV or satellite service.
In the Internet market, Justice Department officials were concerned that allowing the companies to keep both Road Runner and Excite at Home would threaten competition for high-speed Internet access transmitted over cable television lines. Internet service over cable is far quicker than over traditional telephone lines that serve most Web users.
AT&T has a 57 percent voting stake in Excite At Home and owns 26 percent of its shares. MediaOne has a 25 percent stake in Road Runner, a joint venture, through a partnership with Time Warner Inc. and other companies.
The relationships are further intertwined because America Online Inc., the No. 1 Internet service provider, would also have a stake in Road Runner when AOL buys Time Warner. |
