US telecommunications company AT&T’s proposed $48.5bn (€44bn) takeover of satellite television provider DirecTV is set to close after the Federal Communications Commission said it would recommend that the transaction be approved.
Tom Wheeler, chairman of the media regulator, said yesterday (Tuesday) that he has circulated to his fellow FCC commissioners the agency’s proposed order approving the deal, which would create one of the largest US pay-television providers.
The Department of Justice’s antitrust division also said yesterday that it would not block the deal, and closed its investigation. “After an extensive investigation, we concluded … (the deal) does not pose a significant risk to competition,” Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer of the antitrust division said in a statement.
However, AT&T and DirecTV will have to agree to some conditions for the final approval. These include that AT&T will not be permitted to exclude its own or affiliated video services and content from monthly data caps it imposes on its broadband internet customers. This is intended to prevent AT&T from discriminating against other online video providers.
Wheeler said: “Importantly, we will require an independent officer to help ensure compliance with these and other proposed conditions. These strong measures will protect consumers, expand high-speed broadband availability and increase competition.”
In initially announcing the deal in May 2014, AT&T said that it would have the right to pull out of the agreement if DirecTV failed to extend its Sunday Ticket rights deal with American football league the NFL.
That eventually was avoided in October as DirecTV struck an eight-year extension with the NFL, from 2015-16 to 2022-23, worth a reported average of $1.5bn per season – a 50-per-cent increase on the current arrangement worth $1bn per season.
Sunday Ticket is an out-of-market subscription package that was launched by DirecTV in 1994, allowing subscribers to access Sunday afternoon games broadcast by US networks CBS and Fox.