Communications Law Commons^™

The Telecommunications Act Of 1996, Thomas G. Krattenmaker

Federal Communications Law Journal

The author discusses the primary motivating factors behind the 1996 Telecommunications Act, examines how these factors influenced the final law, and critiques the Act by examining whether it is likely to advance public interest goals. Congress designed the Act to address two problems: "technological convergence" and "legal balkanization." The Act attempts to remedy these problems by: (1) tearing down entry barriers so that legal balkanization no longer stands in the path of technological convergence; (2) changing the mandate of the FCC from deciding who should enter the market to monitoring the conditions under which entry takes place in order to …

Hostile Tender Offers For Companies Holding Licenses Issued By The Federal Communications Commission, Stephen F. Sewell

Federal Communications Law Journal

When a tender offer to acquire a company is made, those making the tender offer will have to overcome a number of regulatory hurdles. The number of hurdles multiply, however, when the offer is hostile and the target company holds licenses issued by the FCC. The article sketches the FCC's response to hostile tender offers for companies holding FCC licenses, specifically discussing the Commission's adoption of procedures in 1985 to address hostile tender offers. While these provisions provided needed clarification, the authority of the FCC to implement these provisions and the effectiveness of them as a matter of policy have …

Mergers In Mobile Telecommunications Services: A Primer On The Analysis Of Their Competitive Effects, John W. Berresford

Federal Communications Law Journal

Mobile telecommunications businesses are undergoing an unprecedented period of mergers which may result in a national network for Personal Communications Services. All of these transactions require the approval of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which is in the process of issuing thousands of local, regional, and nationwide licenses. The FCC grants the licenses under "the public interest" standard of the Communications Act of 1934, which requires an analysis of each proposed merger's effect on competition.

The Author begins his description of the analytic framework used by the FCC by describing its variables. Part I describes the "product market," which must …