Verizon asked the FCC to “remove as moot”...

Verizon asked the FCC to “remove as moot” an agency-imposed condition that Verizon’s voting rights in three wireless partnerships be held in trust. As part of a 2009 merger, Verizon acquired Alltel’s interests in three partnerships holding wireless licenses: Illinois Valley Cellular RSA #2-II Partnership, Northwest Missouri Cellular Limited Partnership and Pittsfield Cellular, Verizon said (http://bit.ly/1jwJqRC). “The condition requiring the voting trust was expressly premised on the fact that a single foreign entity, Vodafone, would hold a 45 percent ownership interest in Verizon Wireless and, through ALLTEL, in the three partnerships,” Verizon said. But in February, Verizon completed its $150 billion deal to buy Vodafone’s 45 percent of Verizon Wireless, the carrier noted. “Verizon Wireless is now owned 100 percent by Verizon,” Verizon said. “In addition, the stock of Verizon is held by a widely dispersed body of shareholders, and no single foreign shareholder owns more than five percent of its stock. As a result, the basis for the voting trust no longer exists.”