Regulators could freeze AT&T's $85 billion plan to buy Time Warner

To help you understand the regulatory hurdles that face AT&T and Time Warner, we've put together this FAQ.

How is the Comcast-NBC Universal deal similar to AT&T's proposed merger with Time Warner?: Like the Comcast-NBC Universal deal, the tie-up between AT&T and Time Warner is called a "vertical" merger. These companies don't directly compete with each other. Via its wireless, broadband and satellite TV networks, AT&T distributes the content Time Warner creates. This differs from AT&T's failed T-Mobile deal in 2011, which was considered a "horizontal" merger. In that scenario, AT&T was attempting to buy a direct competitor. Its businesses and customers overlapped almost all of T-Mobile's footprint.

If the deal had been allowed to go through, there would have been one less competitor in the wireless market. Would you expect regulators to put conditions on this deal?: Definitely. But critics have said AT&T, like Comcast, has demonstrated that it doesn't honor its merger commitments. They point to complaints from the early and mid-2000s when AT&T was gobbling up smaller phone companies, such as SBC and Bell South.

What do you think will happen?: With so many moving parts, it's really hard to say what will happen. Moffett gives the merger only a 50 percent chance of getting approved.