The $49 billion AT&T-DirecTV merger seemed to be pushing through its negotiation deal after Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Tom Wheeler announced his approval recommendation with the other FCC commissioners on Tuesday.
Along with the FCC, the U.S. Department of Justice, the other agency reviewing the AT&T-DirecTV merger deal, has also given its approval on Tuesday by putting an end to the extensive investigation the agency conducted into the proposed contract, CNN Money reported.
"An order recommending that the AT&T/DirecTV transaction be approved with conditions has circulated to the Commissioners," FCC chairman Wheeler said in a statement. "The proposed order outlines a number of conditions that will directly benefit consumers by bringing more competition to the broadband marketplace. If the conditions are approved by my colleagues, 12.5 million customer locations will have access to a competitive high-speed fiber connection."
With the AT&T-DirecTV merger approval, some conditions will be imposed that are intended to prevent discrimination against online video competition. The FCC will also require an independent officer to help ensure the proposed conditions will be complied.
Wheeler's announcement about giving the AT&T-DirecTV merger a go signal did not come as a surprise. However, on how the new FCC neutrality law would apply to the deal would be a matter of contention. According to Fortune, the merger's approval requires AT&T to not favor DirecTV shows over other content when it comes to customers' broadband data plans.
Furthermore, it also obliges AT&T to submit regular reports on supposed interconnection agreements that govern ISP's relations with large content providers such as Netflix. And while AT&T motioned that it would adhere to the FCC's over-arching net neutrality rules in June, a number of issues remained when it came to DirecTV.
"In order to bring greater transparency to interconnection practices, the company will be required to submit all completed interconnection agreements to the Commission, along with regular reports on network performance," Wheeler expressed as for the other vital conditions.
To sum it up, the AT&T-DirecTV merger will be approved under the condition that the new AT&T will abide by the net neutrality rules that include no controlling, no blocking, and no paid prioritization of legal content within its ISP network, Forbes noted. Additionally, AT&T would agree to provide fair access to all content providers, without giving preferentiality to any content it may be affiliated with.
Meanwhile, the AT&T-DirecTV merger has one remarkable disadvantage - it is the possibility that competition is reduced, particularly in areas where AT&T offers its U-verse service, which competes with DirecTV.
The AT&T-DirecTV merger deal, as well as Wheeler's proposed conditions, will not be final until an upcoming vote before the FCC. However, it is projected to be approved.
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