Vodafone-AirTouch Deal OKd

The Federal Communications Commission approved British mobile phone company Vodafone Group’s $62-billion acquisition of U.S. carrier AirTouch Communications Inc. The agency said the merger will not hurt competition since the companies didn’t compete against each other in the U.S. Vodafone had already agreed to sell its 17% stake in German mobile telephone group E-Plus to meet European competition concerns. San Francisco-based AirTouch’s German joint venture, Mannesmann Mobilfunk, competes with E-Plus. The AirTouch-Vodafone deal has won European Union and shareholder approval.