AT&T's backroom lobbying at FCC

AT&T has been wheeling and dealing in the backrooms of the Federal Communications Commission to win support for its $80 billion merger with BellSouth, according to a story posted by Reuters on Thursday.

The Reuters story quoted Robert Quinn, AT&T's senior vice president for regulatory affairs, as saying, "We have put a full set of conditions on the table that are reasonable and protect consumers. I want a deal with these guys; we want a 4-0 vote."

The news of secret talks has gotten under the skin of some AT&T competitors, who think any last-minute pleas should be made in public and not behind closed doors.

On Friday, business and wholesale Internet providers NuVox Communications and XO Communications filed an emergency motion with the FCC urging it to disclose AT&T's middle-of-the-night effort.

The competitors allege that AT&T didn't file anything in the FCC's public docket, which means the public hasn't gotten the opportunity to counter AT&T"s backroom advocacy. The FCC has several rules to ensure the public is informed about any new information that may come up while the commission is deciding a particular case.

The FCC was supposed to meet on Thursday to vote on the proposed merger, but it postponed the vote until Friday. The Department of Justice unconditionally approved the merger on Wednesday after a "thorough" investigation.

The two Democratic commissioners on the FCC, Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps, were furious that the DOJ had given the green light on the merger without imposing any restrictions.

Although AT&T and BellSouth do not directly compete in the local, long-distance or broadband markets, they do compete for business customers. And together they would create the largest phone company in the United States serving customers in 22 states. The merger would also give AT&T complete control over Cingular Wireless, which is jointly owned by AT&T and BellSouth.