How AT&T might skirt an FCC review of Time Warner 取引，協定
By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, Oct 24 (Reuters) - AT&T Inc may not have to 捜し出す 是認 from the U.S. 連邦の Communications （売買）手数料，委託（する）／委員会／権限 for the biggest 取得／買収 発表するd this year by selling the one television 駅／配置する that Time Warner Inc owns: WPCH-TV in Atlanta.
The FCC has 幅の広い 余裕／偏流 to 封鎖する a 合併 that it みなすs not to be in the "public 利益／興味," while the U.S. 司法（官） Department おもに 診察するs a 取引，協定 to see whether it breaks 独占禁止の 支配するs by 減ずるing 競争.
If Time Warner divests its only FCC-規制するd broadcast 駅／配置する, that could 除去する a 最初の／主要な 推論する／理由 for the U.S. telecoms regulator to review the 引き継ぎ／買収, a 政府 公式の／役人 with knowledge of the 事柄 told Reuters.
AT&T and Time Warner could then 焦点（を合わせる） on 支持を得ようと努めるing the 司法（官） Department, which 独占禁止の 専門家s said is いっそう少なく likely to 封鎖する the $85 billion 取引，協定 because it is not a 水平の 合併 in which two competitors 申し込む／申し出ing the same services are 捜し出すing to 合併する.
"They are not buying Time Warner for a tiny TV 駅／配置する. It sticks out as a sore thumb and I would 推定する／予想する that to be gone as quickly as possible," said Roger Entner, an 分析家 at Recon Analytics.
"This 避けるs a whole review 過程 by people who have been 歴史的に over the last couple of years not been AT&T's biggest fans. You want to have as few moving parts and if you can 除去する a review by an 機関 you do."
AT&T said the 取引，協定 would need the 是認 of the 司法（官） Department, and that the two companies were 決定するing which FCC licenses held by Time Warner, if any, would 移転 to AT&T as part of the 取引，協定.
"We really just 港／避難所't prejudged that," AT&T's general counsel, David McAtee, told Reuters. "With 尊敬（する）・点 to the FCC licenses, we take a very simple approach here: we follow the 法律 and so whatever the 法律 要求するs that's always what we'll do."
FCC 広報担当者 Neil Grace 拒絶する／低下するd to comment.
Comcast Corp's 2011 引き継ぎ／買収 of NBCUniversal - the last marriage of a major content provider and a 配当 powerhouse, was reviewed by both the 司法（官） Department and the FCC. The FCC played a 重要な 役割 in that review and, by a 4-1 投票（する）, 認可するd the を取り引きする 重要な 条件s, some of which last until 2018.
BTIG 分析家 Rich Greenfield said some regulators had come to 悔いる 許すing Comcast to 誓約（する） to "behavioral 条件s' - such as equitable 治療 of competitors - and 見解（をとる）d "構造上の" 条件s, such as 約束s to sell 確かな 資産s, as easier to 施行する.
Even if AT&T does not acquire any FCC licenses from Time Warner, the FCC still may play an indirect 役割 in the 合併 review, such as by advising the 司法（官） Department, Greenfield said.
Still, in an （a）忠告の／（n）警報 capacity, the FCC is いっそう少なく likely to 課す its own 始める，決める of 条件s for 是認, in 新規加入 to the 司法（官） Department's 需要・要求するs.
ROCKY FCC RELATIONSHIP
AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson on Monday 表明するd 信用／信任 in winning 政府 是認 for what would be the first 取引，協定 to 連合させる a major U.S. マスコミ company wi th a wireless 網状組織, 衛星 TV distributor, and high-速度(を上げる） Internet service provider.
"There are no competitors 存在 taken out of the marketplace," Stephenson told CNBC. "This is a pure vertical 統合，差別撤廃 and while regulators will often time have 関心s with vertical 統合，差別撤廃s, those are always 治療（薬）d by 条件s 課すd on the 合併. And so that's how we 想像する this one to play out."
But 投資家s were skeptical, 押し進めるing 負かす／撃墜する 株 of Time Warner to 貿易（する） some 20 パーセント below AT&T's 申し込む／申し出 price.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has been 堅い on telecoms and cable 産業s, and AT&T has 非難するd much of his ambitious 協議事項, 含むing new broadband privacy 規則s, 改革（する）s of the $45 billion 商売／仕事 data services market, and a 計画（する） to 許す 消費者s to 溝へはまらせる／不時着する 支払う／賃金-TV 始める，決める 最高の，を越す boxes.
AT&T was の中で those who unsuccessfully 告訴するd the FCC in 2015 to 封鎖する the Obama 行政's 目印 逮捕する 中立 支配するs barring internet service providers from 妨害するing or slowing 負かす／撃墜する 消費者 接近 to web content.
Amanda Wait, a partner at 法律 会社／堅い Hunton & Williams who 専攻するs in 独占禁止の 問題／発行するs, said that AT&T 直面するs an 上りの／困難な 戦う／戦い winning 是認 because regulators will closely 査定する／（税金などを）課す what they could have done 異なって in the Comcast-NBCUniversal 取引，協定.
"They are going to make a hard look 支援する at the 譲歩 and licensing 準備／条項s and see how they worked," she said.
In 2011, Comcast agreed to 150 条件s, 含むing sacrificing day-to-day 支配（する）／統制する of popular ビデオ website Hulu and making NBCUniversal programs 利用できる to 競争の激しい streaming services.
Others were 目的（とする）d at 確実にするing Comcast, as the owner of major 反対／詐欺 テント from NBC and さまざまな cable channels, dealt "公正に／かなり" with 競争相手 cable and 衛星 providers.
John Bergmayer, 上級の counsel at Public Knowledge, a 数字表示式の 権利s advocacy group, said "regulators need to 心配する how their good 意向s might be 妨害するd ... and maybe just 可決する・採択する simpler 条件s that leave いっそう少なく room for lawyering."
Comcast 拒絶する／低下するd to comment Sunday. But, in 2014, the company defended its 同意／服従, 説 "Comcast is a company that keeps its 約束s and plays fair." (報告（する）／憶測ing by David Shepardson; 付加 報告（する）／憶測ing by Carl O'Donnell in New York; Editing by Soyoung Kim and Tiffany Wu)
