Document Type

Article

Publication Title

University of Chicago Legal Forum

Abstract

Currently, most telecommunications mergers require approval of both the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC") and the Department of Justice ("DOJ"). Although the agencies' respective statutory mandates differ-the FCC reviews mergers under the Communications Act's broad "public interest" standard and DOJ follows the competition-based standard of the federal antitrust laws-the agencies themselves both claim to focus their review on what they believe to be the merger's effect on competition. That is, the FCC sees its role as that of a shadow DOJ, analyzing mergers under the public interest standard to deter- mine how they will influence competition in the telecommunications industry. Despite this claimed overlap, their approaches- and, consequently, frequently their outcomes-are markedly different.

First Page

29

Volume

2000

Publication Date

2000

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