AT&T, Time Warner plan to skirt FCC review of megamerger [telecom]

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They still would need Justice Department approval of the $85 billion deal.

by Marguerite Reardon

AT&T and Time Warner may have found a smoother path toward their proposed $85 billion merger: going around the Federal Communications Commission.

In a document filed late Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the two companies said they don't plan to transfer any of Time Warner's FCC's licenses to AT&T once the deal closes. That could allow them to bypass an FCC review of the megamerger.