Chairman Wheeler’s AT&T/ DirecTV Approval Plan: Any Rural Conditions?

AT&T could be required to submit all of its interconnection agreements, along with regular network performance reports, to the Federal Communications Commission as a condition of FCC approval of the company’s plan to acquire DirecTV in a $48.5 billion deal announced in May 2014. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said he was circulating an order to his fellow commissioners that would approve the acquisition provided that AT&T agrees to that and other conditions. Proposed conditions include:

• A commitment to bring fiber-to-the-home to more than three times as many metropolitan areas as previously announced
• AT&T would not be allowed to exclude affiliated video services and content from data caps on its fixed broadband networks
• A requirement for an independent officer to help ensure compliance with these and other proposed conditions

With Chairman Wheeler and two other Democrats having control of the five-commissioner FCC, there is a strong likelihood that the order will be adopted. The Department of Justice already has approved AT&T’s acquisition plans.