The Illinois Commerce Commission approved the transaction in a 3-to-2 vote today. The action leaves the Federal Communications Commission as the last remaining regulatory hurdle before the transaction can close.
FCC chairman William Kennard has said he expects the agency to rule on the combination by "early fall."
San Antonio, Texas-based SBC and Chicago-based Ameritech combined would create the biggest U.S. local phone company, comprising a third of local phone lines in the nation.
The companies and FCC staff agreed in June to conditions on the transaction aimed at increasing local phone competition and improving consumer access to high-speed Internet services.
The companies filed a revised plan earlier this month, and the FCC is still reviewing it.
One of the key conditions accepted by the companies is to compete in 30 local telephone markets in the next 2 years outside the territory they now serve. That's important politically because regulators and legislators are growing increasingly frustrated by the slow pace of competition in the local residential phone business.
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