AT&T/DirecTV merger boosts incentive to kill copper service, opponents say

AT&T’s proposed $48.5 billion acquisition of DirecTV will reduce competition for TV subscribers, increase AT&T’s “incentive to discriminate against online video services,” and give AT&T more reasons to neglect its aging copper network, consumer advocacy groups argue in a petition to deny the merger.

AT&T has claimed the merger would help it expand fiber buildouts to an additional two million locations, but this claim is unverifiable because AT&T hasn’t said how much fiber it will deploy if the merger is not approved, says the petition filed by Public Knowledge and the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. In “markets where AT&T and other telecommunications companies have begun to offer fixed wireless service as an alternative to traditional telephone service, there have been customer complaints about the lack of maintenance to the copper network and reports of high-pressure sales techniques that push customers to a wireless product even though the wired product may suit their needs better,” the petition said.