AT&T Expects $49 Billion DirecTV Merger To Close Soon

AT&T expects its $49 billion merger with DirecTV to be completed “shortly,” the telecom said this week in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

AT&T and DirecTV, which previously said they expected to complete the deal by the end of June, say in the filing that they extended the time frame in order to “facilitate obtaining final regulatory approval required to close the merger.”

Some observers have said they expect regulators will let the deal go forward, but that terms haven't yet been finalized. One unsettled issue appears to center on whether AT&T will impose data caps in a way discourages cord-cutting, or that discourages broadband subscribers from streaming video from companies that aren't connected to AT&T/DirecTV.

The advocacy group Public Knowledge reiterated in a filing made public this week that it wants the FCC to prohibit AT&T from engaging in “the discriminatory use of data caps or bandwidth metering to favor affiliated video services” as a condition of the merger.

AT&T recently objected to that condition, arguing that it wants the ability to exempt certain video offerings from subscribers' data caps. AT&T says that those types of exemptions, also known as “zero ratings,” will enable it to provide consumers with “offerings tailored to fit their usage and their budget.”

AT&T also said in its filing that it has already forged deals that “make it easier” for its broadband customers to access streaming video. “AT&T will continue to have a strong incentive to implement any usage-based data policies in a way that accommodates its customers’ usage of [online video distributor] services,” the company wrote.

Consumer advocates also have pressed AT&T to agree to follow the 2015 net neutrality rules for at least seven years after the merger closes -- even if the courts vacate the regulations. AT&T reportedly has agreed to follow some of the new rules -- including prohibitions on blocking or degrading traffic, and on charging companies higher fees for prioritized delivery of their material -- in exchange for merger approval.

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