AT&T Files DirecTV Deal With FCC

AT&T officially filed its proposed DirecTV merger with the Federal Communications Commission, including public interest statements, saying the deal was all about the bundle.

"This transaction will unite two companies with uniquely complementary assets to create a strong, national competitor that delivers consumers an unparalleled combination of broadband, video, and wireless services," AT&T told the FCC.

AT&T said that the main reason for the meld was that they could achieve together what they could not separately: "A compelling bundle of video and broadband services" that neither company could offer individually.

AT&T pointed out that 97% of AT&T's current video customers already take at least a double-play of services, predominantly video and broadband. AT&T said the deal would allow it to expand its video footprint sufficiently to get more and better programming.

"As a result of its relatively limited video footprint, AT&T is far smaller than Comcast and Time Warner Cable, its principal competitors. Lack of scale particularly hinders AT&T with respect to content acquisition, which is by far the largest variable cost of MVPD service."

AT&T outlined the consumer benefits of the deal, which it summarized as being the stronger competitor to cable that bundling will allows. But it also talked about offering high speed broadband to an additional 15 million customer locations within four years.