AT&T/DirecTV Anti-Competitive, Consumer Watchdog Says

Consumer Watchdog called AT&T’s proposed buy of DirecTV anti-competitive and anti-consumer, in a letter it sent Wednesday to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and Attorney General Eric Holder. The deal would lead to “higher prices, less competition and an expansion of the notorious anti-consumer practices that DirecTV currently practices,” said the letter posted Thursday in FCC docket 14-90. Consumer Watchdog said AT&T has failed to show why the purchase is in the public's best interest, and if it's approved the company should be required to discontinue the improper practices and maintain its current rates for at least five years. Among the practices Consumer Watchdog called improper are a mandatory service term of 18 months to two years, charging early cancellation fees and deactivation fees to those customers who cancel early and charging the fees without notifying customers. The group asked the FCC to “ignore the lofty pronouncements of those who have a direct financial interest in the proposed merger and focus instead on the practical impact upon the companies’ customers and the average American family.”