Herb Kohl, the chairman of the Senate antitrust subcommittee, has urged regulators to "carefully scrutinise" plans by Verizon Wireless to acquire spectrum from a group of cable operators. He warned that the deal, which includes a cross-marketing agreement, "raises serious competition concerns", the Financial Times reports. "Without reaching any final judgment as to the legality of these transactions under antitrust laws or the Communications Act, I believe these transactions present serious competition concerns, which should be examined closely by your agencies," said Kohl, a Democrat, in a letter to Eric Holder, the US attorney-general, and Julius Genachowski, chairman of the FCC. The spectrum transaction is currently under review by the FCC, while the justice department is examining the marketing agreements. The antitrust subcommittee held hearings on the proposed transactions in March, and Kohl noted that after the hearings, Verizon announced that it would put some of its unused 700MHz spectrum up for sale should its deal with the cable companies be approved. If the FCC does approve the spectrum purchase, Kohl said the agency should require Verizon to divest other asstes, to ensure it does not have "excessive levels" of spectrum.
