FCC Approves CenturyLink's Acquisition of Level 3

As expected, the FCC has voted 4-1 to approve CenturyLink's $34 billion acquisition of Level 3 with a few minor conditions. The DOJ had already stated CenturyLink must divest some metro network assets in Albuquerque, Boise, and Tucson, but noted the new company can still service those customers if they choose CenturyLink over whomever buys the new divested assets. CenturyLink also has to divest 24 strands of dark fiber.

In a statement , Centurylink proclaimed that the deal will "offer customers a broader and more complementary range of services and solutions and enable the advanced technology and growing bandwidth needs of its business, government and consumer customers."

Consumer groups had opposed the deal, arguing that the very last thing the already uncompetitive business data service market needs is more consolidation, larger companies, and even less competition. That concern was echoed by companies like Frontier, which had argued that CenturyLink's greater size will only harm the market.

"If left unchecked, the applicants will leverage their stronger market position as long-haul and core network providers to potentially squeeze competitors and unnecessarily drive up costs for rural broadband providers and thereby adversely affect rural broadband deployment," Frontier warned.

The lone dissenting voice at the FCC came from Mignon Clyburn, who argued the conditions affixed to the deal wouldn't go far enough to prevent market and consumer harm.

A $34 billion merger between two major companies providing business data services in a highly concentrated market," said Clyburn. "One would think that a transaction of this magnitude would trigger market-based conditions to mitigate potential public interest harms. However, the only condition imposed in this item is short-term price controls on 10 buildings nationwide."