There are reports today that AT&T T -1.12% is close to announcing that it will buy satellite provider DirecTV for $50 billion.
The combined company would have roughly 26 million video customers, most from the DirecTV side and it would give AT&T the real ability to offer customers a bundled package of video, phone and Internet services. With its U-Verse service AT&T can actually offer that bundle right now but it’s an offer customers have found easy to refuse. AT&T has only 5.7 million U-Verse subscribers.
With DirecTV, AT&T can offer video via satellite plus its phone and Internet services. Philip Cusick at JP Morgan believes that AT&T will move all video service off of its copper pipes to make room for VOD and broadband thus making the company a stronger competitor to cable’s broadband offering.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/dorothypomerantz/2014/05/13/att-is-closing-in-on-directv/?partner=yahootix
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