The timeline is intended to identify generally what tasks the agency needs to accomplish in order to complete its review in cases involving complex or difficult issues, the normal order in which these tasks can be most efficiently performed, and the time normally needed to complete them. Any such general timeline necessarily oversimplifies the process. Statutes and regulations require different procedures for different types of licenses or authorizations, and the circumstances of individual cases will differ (for example, the actions taken by other government agencies considering the antitrust, national security, or law enforcement issues relating to the transaction). The timeline should therefore be viewed as a flexible tool, not an effort to force the review of all diverse transactions into one inflexible mold. For these reasons, the timeline clock may need to be started and stopped several times during the process. A record of these actions for AT&T Corporation and Comcast Corporation is provided below.

Clock Stopped		Clock Restarted	Days Stopped	Reason for Stop
Day	Date
188	11/13/02			11/14/02 Memorandum Opinion and Order, FCC 02-310 Text | Word | Acrobat
153	9/24/02	10/10/02	15	9/24/02 Letter from W. Kenneth Ferree Stopping the 180-Day Clock
134	8/9/02	9/6/02	27	8/26/02 Public Notice, Media Bureau Announces Receipt of Supplemental Information from Applicants in AT&T-Comcast Proceeding; Establishes Comment Deadline for MB Docket 02-70, DA 02-2090 Acrobat | Word Supplemental Information Public Notice, Media Bureau Announces Extension of Comment Period in AT&T-Comcast Proceeding, DA 02-2079 Acrobat | Word | Text 8/09/02 Public Notice stopping clock to accommodate pleading cycle. Media Bureau Seeks Comment on Proposed Insulation and Divestiture of AT&T’s Interest in Time Warner Entertainment, L.P. Public Notice | Applicants' Letter