FCC Approves Verizon Wireless’ Takeover of RCC

The FCC approved Verizon Wireless’s acquisition of Rural Cellular Corp. Neither the order nor a news release had been released by our deadline. Commissioner Michael Copps dissented in part, commission sources said. Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein approved in part and concurred in part.

Concerns arose as the FCC completed action on the merger that the order would add 2.5 GHz spectrum to the FCC’s spectrum screen. That could have led the FCC to reject Sprint Nextel’s and Clearwire’s proposal to form a WiMAX partnership, we learned. Clearwire officials swung into action to fight off changing the screen. The proposed WiMAX company would have 112.5 MHz of educational broadband service spectrum nationwide, according to a filing by AT&T, which opposes the deal. That would have put the new Clearwire partnership above the current spectrum screen, which would have required the FCC to perform a detailed competitive analysis in all markets above the screen. EBS spectrum isn’t considered now in connection with the screen.

Verizon Wireless and RCC announced last year that Verizon would buy the much small carrier for $2.7 billion. DoJ signed off on the deal in June, after the companies agreed to unload spectrum licenses and other assets in Vermont, Washington and New York. The takeover upset consumer groups concerned that RCC’s customers, now on a GSM-based network, would be shifted to Verizon’s CDMA network, which they said would reduce subscriber choice. Verizon Wireless later announced plans to acquire Alltel, another carrier with assets in many smaller U.S. markets.