AT&T-BellSouth Merger Expected To Get OK

Washington, DC -- The approval will clear the way for a final decision a day later by the Federal Communications Commission.Three people familiar with the merger said late Tuesday that the Justice Department was expected to approve the deal without conditions. A Justice Department official declined to comment on the decision, and the people who disclosed it declined to be identified because the action had not been formally announced.Justice approval, together with a green light from 18 state governments, means the lone hurdle before the deal goes through is approval by the FCC, which was set to vote on the matter Thursday morning.The merger would create a telecommunications behemoth with both the largest wireless and traditional wired phone networks in the nation, by far.Approval would raise concerns from consumer advocates who claim the government is well on its way to reconstituting the old Ma Bell monopoly, which was broken up after years of fighting in the early 1980s.