The Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday approved the mergers of Verizon Wireless and Alltel and Sprint-Nextel and Clearwire.

The FCC required Verizon to divest itself of five markets to alleviate competitive concerns. The move came four days after the Department of Justice also approved the deal provided Verizon rid itself of an additional 100 markets.

Verizon announced in June that it would acquire Alltel for $5.9 billion, and assume $22 billion in debt.

Though the deal was approved, Democratic Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein expressed concern that a combined Verizon-Alltel would hurt small carriers that rely on roaming deals.

"This development may put some small carriers out of business," Copps said.

Copps approved the deal in part because of Verizon's commitment to retain current roaming deals for the next four years, though he wanted that to run for seven years.

"It's better than nothing," he said.

Adelstein said he is "deeply concerned about consolidation in the wireless marketplace."

Republican Commissioners Deborah Taylor Tate and Robert McDowell were less critical of the merger.

Requiring Verizon to divest itself of 105 markets will "ensure more competition in those areas," Tate said. "At a time when current economic conditions make it difficult for [providers] to upgrade and expand… a transaction that would result in an expanded footprint and upgrade its service … may indeed provide real public benefits immediately," she said.

The commissioners were less divided on the Sprint-Clearwire deal.

"This item is better news [than Verizon-Alltel] because it creates a new competitor in the broadband market," Copps said.

In May, Sprint agreed to take over the combined WiMAX operations of Clearwire, a joint venture that will be backed by tech titans including Comcast, Google, and Intel.

"It is a positive step forward … to form a new entrant into the market for mobile broadband services," Adelstein said.

The deal will "solidify wireless as an additional broadband platform," said Chairman Kevin Martin.

McDowell joked that it will be "entertaining to have Google and Comcast on the same board of directors."