House members want briefings on AT&T/T-Mobile lawsuit

{mosads}The lawmakers also ask whether the agencies are considering imposing conditions on the transaction such as divestitures or commitments to maintain pricing levels. House Republicans have been critical of the commission’s attachment of net neutrality and other conditions to the Comcast-NBC Universal merger that they argue went outside the scope of the agency’s review.

“Finally, if your agencies are considering imposing conditions on the transaction, we would like your agency to confirm that it will only consider imposing conditions that are narrowly tailored to remedy transaction-specific harms,” the letter states.

The lawmakers request a bipartisan briefing in the next two weeks. The judge in the case has ordered both parties to court on Sept. 21 to
discuss the prospects of settlement.

The FCC has yet to weigh in on the merger, but Genachowski has expressed skepticism about its benefits for the public and observers say it’s unlikely the commission will defy DOJ and approve the license transfer outright.