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By David Rohde Washington, D.G.
AT&T has decided to begin a nine-city trial of twoway telephony over cable just as soon as the Federal Communications Commission approves its acquisition of cable giant Tele-Communications , Inc. (TCI).
And for its part, the FCC has signaled it will approve the merger just as soon as AT&T commits to a schedule for ensuring the transaction benefits all sectors of society
The chicken-and-egg game between the carrier and its regulators unfolded at the beginning of this year, following a holiday-season approval of the merger by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Facing the need to gain FCC approval to seal the TCI deal, AT&T announced it will market voice, video and high-speed data services over cable lines to customers in nine cities (see...