Mark Del Bianco provides some intresting commentary in a CNET editorial about a possible hurdle to the AT&T-BellSouth merger, that Del Bianco acknowledges many in Washington expect to “sail through with flying colors.” Noting that the merger would give the combined company a sizable chunk of valuable spectrum in the 2.3GHz and 2.5GHz ranges, right where WiMax is poised to take off as a viable competitor to wireline broadband services, and not a whole lot of incentive to compete with its own existing business, Del Bianco predicts that the FCC and the Justice Department could very well look to force some divesture as a condition of the merger.

Both BellSouth and AT&T own considerable chunks of prime wireless spectrum that is unused and that could quickly and relatively cheaply be used to provide broadband services that would compete with telecom and cable wireline broadband services–in other words, the long-sought “third pipe” to the home or business. Competitors will no doubt argue that the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department should worry about the loss of intermodal competition that will result if the two companies are permitted to retain this valuable spectrum.