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FCC poised to vote on SoftBank's acquisition of Sprint, Sprint's acquisition of Clearwire

FCC poised to vote on SoftBank's acquisition of Sprint, Sprint's acquisition of Clearwire

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Mignon Clyburn
Mignon Clyburn

Acting FCC Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn has sent the epic SoftBank-Sprint-Clearwire deal — the largest to hit regulators since AT&T's proposed purchase of T-Mobile USA — over to her fellow commissioners today, setting up the agency for an approval vote.

Though her tenure will ultimately be brief (assuming nominee Tom Wheeler makes it through the Senate's confirmation process), pressing business across the wireless industry means that Clyburn is going to end up leading the way on some major decisions with long-term implications. The vote — which would give FCC approval to Sprint's purchase of the outstanding stake of Clearwire that it doesn't already own, and to SoftBank's acquisition of Sprint — was made possible as satellite television provider Dish dropped its bids for both Sprint and Clearwire in recent days.

Here's Clyburn's full, brief statement:

Softbank, Sprint, and Clearwire requested that the Federal Communications Commission approve their applications for transfer of control. At my direction, earlier today, staff circulated a proposed Order to the full Commission for a vote.

There's no word yet on how soon a vote could take place.