WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 (Xinhuanet) -- The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Monday approved SBC Communications' takeover of AT&T and Verizon Communications' purchase of MCI, removing the final regulatory barriers to the multibillion mergers.

    By a vote of 4-0, the FCC approved the two mergers with certainconditions. The agency required that SBC and Verizon freeze the wholesale prices they charge competitors to lease high-capacity business lines. The FCC also said they had to guarantee that they will sell their Internet access as a stand-alone service, so customers aren't forced to buy local phone service as well.

    The acquisition by SBC Communications Inc. of AT&T Corp. whichwas announced on January this year, is valued at 16 billion dollars. The deal with Verizon Communications Inc. and MCI Inc. was announced on last February and is said to be worth about 8.5 billion dollars.

    The US Justice Department cleared the mergers last week, with more limited conditions than those placed on the companies by the FCC. Its approval was contingent on Verizon and SBC leasing to rivals high-capacity lines serving business customers in 19 metropolitan areas, including Washington, Boston, New York, Chicago, Detroit,Los Angeles and St. Louis. Enditem