STATEMENT OF
COMMISSIONER BRENDAN CARR
Re: Applications of Level 3 Communications, Inc. and CenturyLink, Inc. For Consent to Transfer 
Control of Licenses and Authorizations, WC Docket 16-403.
The record shows that approving this transaction between CenturyLink and Level 3 
Communications will promote the public interest and benefit consumers, including by allowing the 
merged firm to operate as a more effective and stronger competitor against larger providers.  I therefore 
support the Commission’s decision to approve this transaction.  
I am also glad that the standard of review and public interest framework in today’s decision make 
it clear that this Commission will be adhering to the Communications Act and longstanding FCC 
precedent as it reviews proposed transactions.  In particular, the Order emphasizes that the agency will 
only impose merger conditions that are narrowly tailored to remedy transaction-specific harms.  We will 
not be using them as a vehicle to extract extraneous concessions from parties.  I am pleased to see the 
Commission adhering to this approach.
Finally, I find curious the claim that the Commission is adopting a new merger review standard 
without following notice and comment procedures.  To start, this is an adjudication, not a rulemaking, so 
the cited notice and comment procedures do not apply.  What is more, in describing the public interest 
standard in this Order, the Commission is simply recognizing and adhering to both the statute and the 
agency’s past adjudicatory decisions.  This is evidenced by the dozens of citations to Commission 
precedent in the Order.  Thus, the Order satisfies all procedural requirements imposed by the APA.