Deals between Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) and four of the nation’s largest cable companies have been approved by the Justice Department today. The agreements involved Verizon buying spectrum from the cable companies last year in an effort to expand its reach. The problem is that these are co-marketing agreements, allowing Verizon to use the infrastructure already in place instead of its FiOS network. This would make it so Verizon was the only cable provider in certain areas of the country, allowing customers no competitive choice. The Justice Department’s anti-trust division did see a problem, but allowed the deals to go through with the provision that they will only be for five-years. Expansion is good for Verizon but investors are not sold on the deal. The communications company’s stock is down slightly in early trading but it mostly riding the flat line with a little less than two tenths of a percent.
