(Corrects 11th paragraph to show Pardo no longer a director at America Movil)
* Deal to add 1.1 mln subscribers to AT&T
* FCC (Madrid: FCC.MC - news) agrees with Justice Dept conditions
* Accepts AT&T commitments in Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands (Adds FCC official notice; AT&T share price)
WASHINGTON, Nov 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Thursday gave final approval to AT&T Inc's $944 million bid to buy Centennial Communications Corp .
The widely expected move comes three weeks after the U.S. Justice Department approved the deal on the condition that AT&T, the No. 2 U.S. wireless provider, divest Centennial operations in parts of Louisiana and Mississippi.
The FCC granted the approval under the same conditions.
It also required AT&T to continue Centennial's roaming agreements for four years under certain subscriber conditions. The agency also said it accepted AT&T commitments to maintain a CDMA network in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands for 18 months. AT&T operates on the alternative GSM network.
AT&T, which was required to sell eight service areas, has reached an agreement to sell five of them to Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications Inc and Vodafone (LSE: VOD.L - news) Group Plc .
In a bit of a swap, AT&T also agreed in May to buy Alltel Wireless assets that Verizon (
Centennial, based in Wall, New Jersey, is the 8th largest wireless provider and offers service in six states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Justice Department said. AT&T estimated Centennial had about 1.1 million wireless subscribers.
Shares of Dallas-based AT&T closed 41 cents higher Thursday, or 1.6 percent, at $25.94 on the
The deal was first announced in November 2008 and approved by Centennial stockholders in February.
To address limitations on overlapping boards, AT&T also said it would maintain an arms-length relationship with America Movil
One of AT&T's board members is Jaime Chico Pardo, who was also a director of America Movil until June. Pardo is also chairman of Mexican telephone giant Telmex , which is controlled by Slim.
AT&T also owns a 9.75 percent stake in Telmex (CHILESAT.SN - news) and has an 8.82 percent investment in America Movil, the FCC said.
In the United States,
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