We note that, in the event of the FCC finally approving AT&T’s proposed acquisition of DIRECTV, AT&T will be duly elevated to the second leading position in the USA pay-TV market.
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“We have been in to the FCC a number of times trying to ensure that any conditions it puts on this deal are meaningful and enforceable”, he says. FCC chairman Tom Wheeler said two weeks ago that the agency is trying to reach its decision on the merger as soon as possible. Kim Hart, an FCC spokeswoman, declined to comment.
The Department of Justice is ready to announce next week that the deal has cleared its review of any antitrust concerns, Bloomberg reports. Once approved, the merger will enable the DirecTV-AT&T combination to become a leader in content distribution across various platforms including mobile communications, high-speed Internet and TV. In the document, AT&T also said that it “expects that the merger will be consummated shortly”. (NYSE:T) stock from Neutral to Buy, while also boosting its price objective from $35 to $40, in the middle of the pending DIRECTV (NASDAQ:DTV) deal.
The companies have said they will expand broadband coverage. It’s more likely that AT&T had to make concessions with the FCC. AT&T denies breaking the agency’s rules.
The DIRECTV takeover will increase AT&T’s video customer base by an estimated 20.3 million from its current 5.7 million.
The deal reflects the growing desire of companies to meet the increasing demand for online video.
“At minimum, the Commission should strongly urge the powerful AT&T-DirecTV monolith to give serious consideration to fully and effetely serving local communities and address ZGS’ longstanding carriage request”, he wrote.
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“DirecTV has systematically denied the Hispanic community access to its local stations, which provide daily news and public safety information, weather reports and emergency notices, as well as extensive programing of local interest to the community”.
