AT&T Makes Broadband Commitments to Close DIRECTV Deal

In areas where AT&T’s top speeds are higher, the company said it “will offer a broadband wireline DSL service at speeds up to 5Mbps to households in AT&T’s wireline footprint for $10 per month for the first 12 months of service (rising to $20 per month for the remainder of the term of the commitment)”.

Another plan would be available to consumers in areas where AT&T lacks the capabilities to offer faster Internet speeds.

Officials of the Justice Department closed their investigation without demanding any conditions like promises from AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) about fair treatment of the Internet traffic, or demanding the sale of business units.

The company is also promising to offer some low-income households a faster DSL service of 5 Mbps for $10 a month.

AT&T has also been saying over the last year that it would build out its fiber network to an additional 2 million locations, but this week it revealed that it plans to deploy fiber to 11.7 million customer locations within four years, including the 2 million that are contingent on approval of the merger. But there’s nothing in the document to suggest how much further beyond AT&T’s already-planned deployment this total goes, and most of the filing is redacted.

The advocacy group Public Knowledge recently floated a proposal that AT&T offer low-priced Internet connections without considering subscribers’ financial circumstances. This plan would start at $5 a month for the first 12 months and later increase to $10 a month. (There will be no cheap broadband for anyone outside of AT&T’s existing coverage.).

The offerings are similar to Comcast’s Internet Essentials (NASDAQ: CMCSA) pricing plans, where are available to families whose children qualify for subsidized school lunches. We note that, in the event of the FCC finally approving the proposed acquisition, AT&T will be duly elevated to the second leading position in the USA pay-TV market. Before AT&T customers get too excited, AT&T has a long history of making promises to get deals approved that may or may not make sense under closer inspection.