FCC working to approve Sprint / Clearwire and Verizon / Alltel mergers by the end of the year

The FCC doesn’t exactly have a track record of swiftness when it comes to reviewing mergers , but it looks like that little election thing might have lit a couple grey suits on fire — FCC chairman Kevin Martin says that the agency is aiming to finish looking over the Sprint / Clearwire and Verizon / Alltel deals by the end of the year. That’s right before a new administration takes over and potentially gums up the process, so we’re guessing it’ll be approvals all around, since rejecting the bids would result in some fun lawsuits for everyone, but we’ll see how things shake out.