WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission’s Wireless Telecommunications and International Bureaus have approved the merger of Bell Atlantic Corp. and Vodafone AirTouch plc’s wireless assets, as well as VoiceStream’s purchase of Aerial Communications Inc.
The bureaus said “the creation of two new national wireless competitors likely will result in a various number of public interest benefits.”
The merged Bell Atlantic/Vodafone AirTouch properties will cover approximately 90 percent of the United States, which includes about 209 million people.
Bell Atlantic and Vodafone AirTouch will transfer their licenses to Cellco Partnership, a Bell Atlantic subsidiary, which will serve as the vehicle for combining the two companies’ cellular, personal communications services, paging and other U.S. wireless operations. Both companies use Code Division Multiple Access technology.
The VoiceStream/Aerial combination will bring together two major providers of Global System for Mobile communications services. Last month, the FCC approved VoiceStream’s acquisition of Omnipoint Communications Inc., and together, the three companies will hold licenses covering more than 200 million people, the FCC said.
Later this quarter, the Bell Atlantic/Vodafone conglomerate also is expected to acquire GTE Corp.’s wireless assets, once Bell Atlantic’s purchase of GTE is approved in several more states.
