AT&T Says DirecTV Deal Means GigaPower Expansion Without CAF Money

More consumers will get AT&T's GigaPower wireline broadband -- and without any public subsidies from the Connect America Fund -- if AT&T's DirecTV merger is allowed to go through, executives of both companies told FCC officials, according to an ex parte filing posted Monday in docket 14-90. AT&T's GigaPower service will extend to an additional 2 million locations within four years of the close of the deal, and AT&T periodically will give updates to the FCC on the status of that broadband rollout that show that work is being done without CAF money, company officials said. AT&T also continues to stand by its plan to offer a 6 Mbps stand-alone broadband service for three years after closing, company officials said. That's slower than the FCC-set benchmark speed 25 Mbps that some opponents of the deal had tried to set as a condition for the merger, but 6 Mbps "would be more widely available than a service of higher speeds," the company said. AT&T also attempted to rebut arguments about another proposed condition setting up how it would market that stand-alone broadband service -- a requirement that "would only prevent AT&T from adapting to market conditions and making the sales experience as efficient and responsive to customer needs as it can," it said.