wickedjoker
07-22-2015, 04:47 PM
The Federal Communications Commission this week signaled that it will approve the AT&T and DirecTV merger—if AT&T adheres to certain conditions.
If these restrictions are honored, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said, the deal will "directly benefit consumers by bringing more competition to the broadband marketplace."
AT&T in May 2014 announced plans to acquire DirecTV in a $48.5 billion agreement that it said will provide more customers with mobile, broadband, and pay TV service bundles.
DirecTV shareholders in September approved the deal, which was expected to be complete in the first half of 2015. But earlier this year, the FCC called a timeout on the mega-merger, based on a pending court decision concerning the disclosure of video-programming contracts.
Now, Wheeler and Co. are moving forward again, albeit with a few restrictions. "The conditions will build on the Open Internet Order already in effect, addressing two merger-specific issues," the FCC chief said.
In an effort to prevent discrimination against online video competition, AT&T will not be permitted to exclude its own video services and content from data caps on its network.
The company will also be required to submit all completed interconnection agreements—and regular reports on network performance—to the FCC, in what Wheeler hopes is a move to encourage more transparency. An independent officer will be assigned to ensure compliance.
Inter-connection deals made headlines last year when Netflix complained about having to secure them with powerful ISPs. The agreements, also known as peering deals, provide services like Netflix with a direct connection to an ISP's network. AT&T and Netflix inked such a deal a year ago, meaning that AT&T Internet customers should get faster access to Netflix, with less buffering and wait times.
The FCC has been investigating inter-connection deals since last year. The Washington Post reports that the FCC wanted to restrict these deals in the AT&T-DirecTV merger, but AT&T wasn't having it. So they settled on oversight.
AT&T will also expand its high-speed fiber Internet footprint to 12.5 million customer locations, which Wheeler said "is about 10 times the size of AT&T's current fiber-to-the-premise deployment, increases the entire nation's residential fiber build by more than 40 percent, and more than triples the number of metropolitan areas AT&T has announced plans to serve."
"These strong measures will protect consumers, expand high-speed broadband availability, and increase competition," Wheeler added.
If these restrictions are honored, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said, the deal will "directly benefit consumers by bringing more competition to the broadband marketplace."
AT&T in May 2014 announced plans to acquire DirecTV in a $48.5 billion agreement that it said will provide more customers with mobile, broadband, and pay TV service bundles.
DirecTV shareholders in September approved the deal, which was expected to be complete in the first half of 2015. But earlier this year, the FCC called a timeout on the mega-merger, based on a pending court decision concerning the disclosure of video-programming contracts.
Now, Wheeler and Co. are moving forward again, albeit with a few restrictions. "The conditions will build on the Open Internet Order already in effect, addressing two merger-specific issues," the FCC chief said.
In an effort to prevent discrimination against online video competition, AT&T will not be permitted to exclude its own video services and content from data caps on its network.
The company will also be required to submit all completed interconnection agreements—and regular reports on network performance—to the FCC, in what Wheeler hopes is a move to encourage more transparency. An independent officer will be assigned to ensure compliance.
Inter-connection deals made headlines last year when Netflix complained about having to secure them with powerful ISPs. The agreements, also known as peering deals, provide services like Netflix with a direct connection to an ISP's network. AT&T and Netflix inked such a deal a year ago, meaning that AT&T Internet customers should get faster access to Netflix, with less buffering and wait times.
The FCC has been investigating inter-connection deals since last year. The Washington Post reports that the FCC wanted to restrict these deals in the AT&T-DirecTV merger, but AT&T wasn't having it. So they settled on oversight.
AT&T will also expand its high-speed fiber Internet footprint to 12.5 million customer locations, which Wheeler said "is about 10 times the size of AT&T's current fiber-to-the-premise deployment, increases the entire nation's residential fiber build by more than 40 percent, and more than triples the number of metropolitan areas AT&T has announced plans to serve."
"These strong measures will protect consumers, expand high-speed broadband availability, and increase competition," Wheeler added.
