Thirty-two House Democrats today penned a letter to the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department urging the agencies to review Verizon's pending purchase of spectrum from several cable firms with extreme caution.

The move comes several days after the FCC rejected a bid to delay its decision on the spectrum purchase.

"The commercial agreements between Verizon Wireless and the leading cable companies appear to turn the promise of the 1996 Telecommunications Act on its head," the members of Congress wrote to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and Attorney General Eric Holder. The deal will turn "formerly energetic competitors into business partners."

In January, Verizon announced plans to purchase 122 Advanced Wireless Systems (AWS) spectrum licenses from SpectrumCo, LLC, a joint effort from Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Networks. The companies also agreed to offer each others' services via quad-play packages.

Verizon later said it would sell the 700-MHz spectrum it purchased in the A and B blocks back in 2008, as well as purchase and swap spectrum in the AWS band with T-Mobile - but only if the cable deal is approved.

The spectrum deals have prompted concern from rivals and consumer groups like Public Knowledge, which distributed the letter from House Democrats this afternoon.

Public Knowledge and the Rural Telecommunications Group last week asked the FCC to delay its decision on the cable spectrum deal so that interested parties could have more time to file comments. But the FCC on Friday denied that request.

"We are not persuaded, under the circumstances outlined in the Motion, that Public Knowledge and RTG have shown good cause that granting the Motion for an extension of time would serve the public interest," the FCC said. "The Commission has an obligation to review the transactions proposed in he Verizon Wireless/SpectrumCo/Cox Applications as expeditiously as possible."

The full FCC will appear before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce's technology subcommittee tomorrow for an oversight hearing that will likely touch on the spectrum issue. None of the Democrats who signed the letter to the FCC and DOJ sit on the subcommittee, though Reps. John Sarbanes and Jan Schakowsky are on the full committee.