After Delay, AT&T Deal Nears Approval

After a prolonged review, AT&T is close to securing regulatory approval for its $2.35 billion purchase of rural U.S. wireless licenses from rival Verizon Wireless.

Federal Communications Chairman Julius Genachowski last week circulated an order asking the other four members of the commission to approve the deal. The vote could happen in coming weeks. Regulators mandated the sale in 2008 as a condition for approving $28.1 billion purchase of Alltel by Verizon, a unit of Verizon Communications Inc. AT&T, which stands to add a swath of network coverage in 18 states, mainly in the middle of the country, announced the deal with Verizon in May 2009 and had said it expected to close the sale in the first quarter. But with a new commission taking over last year and a flood of other issues at the top of the FCC's list, the Alltel deal took a back seat.