U.S Federal Communications Commission restarts 180-day clock on T-Mobile USA deal approval Process

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission Friday restarted an informal 180-day clock it set to review AT&T Inc.'s proposed $39 billion takeover of Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile USA after a 37-day halt.

The FCC said it was satisfied that AT&T had submitted evidence in formats that the agency and third parties could more easily review. In a letter, FCC Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Chief Rick Kaplan said Friday represented the 83rd day on the approval clock.

The agency "believes our record is complete with respect to the models," said Kaplan in the letter. "AT&T will not be submitting any further revisions to the models."

AT&T said in March, when it announced the deal, that it expected the approval process at the FCC and Department of Justice to take about one year.

"We are confident the Commission will move expeditiously to complete its review of our merger with T-Mobile," Dallas-based AT&T said in a statement. AT&T was down 47 cents, or 1.6%, to $28.58.

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