The Federal Communications Commission generally has the authority to approve or disapprove any telecommunications merger to make sure it is in the public interest.

It is the third biggest telecommunications merger in history.

Setbacks in telecommunications mergers do not mean an end to the data superhighway, analysts say.

The commission also used its ruling on the deal to lay out its view of how the antitrust statute should be applied to future telecommunications mergers.

Many consumer advocates were wary, with one decrying "the avalanche of telecommunications mergers" driving prices up.

This year, Goldman has been an adviser on $239 billion of telecommunications mergers in Europe.

The next item is the Commission statement on telecommunications mergers.

Others point out that existing antitrust standards are not well-suited to handle telecommunications mergers.

The Justice Department, which has approved other telecommunications mergers, is stepping up its antitrust scrutiny of the deal.

That standard has been used in some telecommunications mergers, but this is the first time it has been used in a utility case.