“AT&T is now the largest paid-television provider in the country,” Maggie Reardon reports for CNET. “”
“The Dallas telecommunications giant confirmed Friday that it has closed its acquisition of satellite television provider DirecTV for $49 billion,” Reardon reports. “Combining AT&T’s broadband and wireless services with DirecTV’s nationwide satellite TV service will create a powerhouse of broadband, entertainment and communications services.”
“AT&T gets access to DirecTV’s content deals, such as its package of National Football League games, as well as the ability to deliver those services to everyone across the country,” Reardon reports. “The closing of the deal came shortly after the Federal Communications Commission announced Friday that the five-member commission had voted to approve the merger. The Department of Justice also said this week that it would not stop the merger. While both federal agencies had some concerns about the second-largest wireless company buying DirecTV, the concerns were not strong enough to oppose the deal. To mitigate concerns, the FCC imposed several conditions on the merger. Specifically, AT&T agreed to abide by stricter Net neutrality restrictions than is spelled out in rules the agency passed in February…”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: $49 billion ain’t chicken feed.
