Microsoft challenge to AOL-Time Warner merger

The world's biggest software firm is reportedly indulging in heavy lobbying with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to induce it to impose strict conditions on the $113bn deal - the internet's biggest merger.

At the heart of the FTC's concerns, and Microsoft's, is whether or not the merger of the media giant and the world's biggest ISP will dominate normal and high-speed internet access and provision.

To offset these concerns, Time Warner is reported to have agreed to open its US cable network to rivals who want to offer net access. Microsoft is also asking that it should have access to the network.

The FTC has twice postponed a decision, which has often been described as close to resolution. The European Commission early this summer passed the merger, but in Europe the two companies do not have the massive holding in cable they do in the US