The cable and broadband deals will soon be lining up at the FCC—Charter/TWC and now Avago/Broadcom—with the shot clock yet to restart on the FCC’s vetting of the AT&T/DirecTV deal, though that does not mean the merger-review team is not vetting the deal.
The clock has been stopped since March—on day 170 of the informal 180 deadline—at the time ostensibly to let a federal court decide the issue of access to third-party contracts. That was decided a month ago.
An FCC source speaking on background points out that the clock is a guideline and can be stopped for other reasons outside the FCC's control, like still needing more documents.
An AT&T source speaking on background said the holdup was unclear, but that the company submitted some more documents this week and hopefully that might get the clock moving again.
