The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday cleared AT&T Inc.'s (T) $944 million acquisition of Centennial Communications Corp. (CYCL), but required AT&T to divest assets in Louisiana and Mississippi as a condition of government approval.

The department's antitrust regulators said the divestitures were needed to protect competition for mobile wireless telecommunications services in those areas.

The AT&T-Centennial deal still needs the approval of the Federal Communications Commission.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has declined to offer a solid timeframe for the commission's approval, but staffers examining the merger say they want to finish their recommendations quickly.

An AT&T spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

-By Brent Kendall, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9222; brent.kendall@dowjones.com