As expected, the Federal Communications Commission has approved the $23 billion merger of Bell Atlantic Corp and Nynex Corp. The move sweeps away the last hurdle in the way of a deal that will create the US’s largest local carrier telephone company, and the second largest US telecoms company after long-distance giant AT&T Corp. Giving the go ahead to the deal, the commission concluded that the claimed efficiencies of the merger offset the potential adverse effects of the transaction on the development of competition. However, the FCC did attach a number of conditions to the deal that will involve the regulatory body monitoring the performance of the new company over the next four years. The conditions are designed to insure that the companies joined local market is open to competitors and include detailed monitoring of the merged company’s operational support systems. These are the systems necessary for new competitors to enter the market.
