Almost two dozen, most Republican, representatives told the FCC June 17 that they were
concerned about "any further delay" in the FCC's review of the
proposed Comcast-NBC Universal joint venture.
Led by Energy &
Commerce Committee ranking member Joe Barton (R-Tex.) and Communications
Subcommittee ranking member Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), the reps said in a letter
to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski that they believed the voluntary public
interest commitments the two companies have made should be sufficient to
"compel the commission to conclude that the transaction, without any
additional conditions, furthers the public interest and should be approved.
They want the FCC to
reject calls for field hearings on the deal beyond the July 13 forum in Chicago
it has already scheduled.
"The commission
should act on this pro-consumer, pro-competition transaction without
delay," they said, praising Genachowski for his handling of the review so
far. The FCC has rejected a couple of requests to extend the comment deadline,
though it did extend the deadline 45 days so that Comcast and NBCU could file
more info.
Barton and Stearns were
the same legislators who criticized Genachowski and the FCC Thursday for the
FCC's proposal to reclassify broadband transmissions as a Title II service.
The deadline for
comments and petitions to deny--expected to include petitions from Media Access
Project, Free Press and others--is Monday, June 21.
