Details coming on customer impact in merger between AT&T and DirecTV

AT&T and DirecTV have merged following the Federal Communications Commission’s approval last week of the $49-billion acquisition.

As a combined company, it’s now the largest pay TV provider in the nation and world. But what does this mean for local residents? What about rural residents?

Scant details are known following the announcement, but company officials promise more information in the coming weeks.

For now, basic details are this: TV package prices, service and channel lineups will remain the same. A satellite dish is still needed to receive DirecTV services.

AT&T officials indicate customers will see new offers across various platforms: TV, mobile and Internet services. The merger brings more options for AT&T, the second largest wireless carrier in the U.S. and serves more than 26 million customers.

“This transaction allows us to significantly expand our high-speed Internet service to reach millions more households, which is a perfect complement to our coast-to-coast TV and mobile coverage,” AT&T chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson said in a statement. “We’re now a fundamentally different company with a diversified set of capabilities and businesses that set us apart from the competition.”

DirecTV provides direct broadcast satellite services.

An FCC report said DirecTV has an estimated 20 million video subscribers nationwide. It doesn’t provide broadband or voice services but offers synthetic service bundles of video, voice and broadband services in conjunction with CenturyLink, AT&T and Verizon, among others, according to the FCC.

But some media outlets are skeptical about whether the merger will result in more services and benefits to customers.

A Tuesday article in Consumer Reports stated its policy and advocacy arm, Consumers Union, doesn’t believe that bigger companies do better for their customers.

“In fact, the opposite is often true,” the article stated. It said the largest companies have earned low scores for value, service, and customer satisfaction in our recent consumer surveys. Tellingly, the AT&T-DirecTV merger statement said nothing about lower prices or better customer service, high priorities for most consumers.

“We’ve been skeptical about the AT&T-DirecTV merger from the beginning,” said Delara Derakhshani, policy counsel for Consumers Union. “It raises real concerns about the consolidation of pay TV options in markets where AT&T and DirecTV already offer competing services.”