TELECOMMUNICATIONS

PUC OKs AT&T;’s Purchase of McCaw: The California Public Utilities Commission approved AT&T;’s proposed $12.6-billion purchase of McCaw Cellular Communications Inc., ruling that the merger is in the public interest and would not adversely affect competition. The decision followed by a day U.S. District Judge Harold H. Greene’s ruling in Washington that the merger would violate the landmark consent decree that broke up the phone monopoly a decade ago. Greene left open the possibility that AT&T; could seek a waiver that would allow the deal to go through. The state PUC was the last of nine utilities commissions to issue its approval. To satisfy the complaints of several consumer groups and companies, AT&T; agreed, among other things, to provide McCaw’s cellular customers with equal access to other long-distance carriers.