California Regulators Approve AT&T;’s Plan to Acquire TCI

AT&T; Corp., the nation’s largest phone company, won approval Thursday from the California Public Utilities Commission for its acquisition of cable television operator Tele-Communications Inc., in what may be the last government approval before completion of the purchase.

The nation’s largest phone company plans to use TCI’s cable lines for phone service in addition to high-speed Internet access and cable TV.

Separately Thursday, AT&T; forged a deal that would help extend its strategy of one-stop telecommunications services into Canada by merging its Canadian business with MetroNet Communications Corp.

The deal places a value of at least $2.3 billion on MetroNet, a local Canadian phone service supplier to businesses. The merged company would be able to offer business customers in Canada everything from long-distance to Internet to local phone service.

AT&T; said Wednesday that it could close the $57.6-billion TCI deal as early as next week if the California approval were granted.

Englewood, Colo.-based TCI had said the PUC vote was the last it faced in California, where it operates cable systems serving 700,000 of its 10.5 million U.S. customers. Still unresolved, though, is a dispute between TCI and San Francisco, where it has 175,000 customers.

The company maintains it doesn’t need a transfer approval. The city disagrees and plans to schedule a vote on the matter by the board of supervisors this month or in April.

In other news, AT&T; and British Telecommunications named David Dorman, chief executive and chairman of PointCast Inc., as head of their $10-billion global joint venture, effective April 1.

Dorman will remain chairman of closely held PointCast until a pending sale or merger of the Internet news service company is completed.

AT&T;’s stock rose $1.06 to close at $84.44 on the New York Stock Exchange.