AT&T extend 1Gbps service to schools as part of DirecTV deal

Locations has not been revealed, but AT&T will extend its 1Gbps Fiber To The Premises (FTTP) service to more E-rate schools and libraries as part of one of the FCC’s requirements for the merge that is now completed.  

As read in the FCC’s statement: to ensure that schools and libraries also benefit from expanded fiber deployment to consumers and institutions, the Commission is also requiring AT&T-DIRECTV to offer gigabit service to any E-rate eligible school or library where AT&T-DIRECTV deploys FTTP service

The conditions will remain in effect for four years after the merger closes and include:

Fiber to the Premises (FTTP) Deployment. Recognizing that the merger reduces

AT&T-DIRECTV’s incentive to deploy FTTP service, the Commission adopts as a

condition of this merger the expansion of FTTP service to 12.5 million customer

locations. This condition also responds to the harm of the loss of a video competitor

in areas where AT&T and DIRECTV had directly competed before the merger by

providing a pathway for increased competition from services that rely on broadband

Internet to deliver video.

Non-Discriminatory Usage-Based Practices. Recognizing that AT&T is the only

major ISP that applies “data caps” across the board to all of its fixed broadband

customers and that this merger increases the incentive of AT&T-DIRECTV to use

strategies that limit consumers’ access to online video distribution services in order to

favor its own video services, the Commission requires AT&T-DIRECTV, as a

condition of this merger, to refrain from imposing discriminatory usage-based

allowances or other discriminatory retail terms and conditions on its broadband

Internet service.

Internet Interconnection Disclosure Requirements. Recognizing the importance of

interconnection to the operation of online video services, the Commission also

requires as a condition of this merger that AT&T-DIRECTV submit its Internet

interconnection agreements so that the Commission may monitor the terms of such

agreements to determine whether AT&T-DIRECTV is denying or impeding access to

its networks in anticompetitive ways through the terms of these agreements.

Discounted Broadband Services for Low-Income Subscribers. While finding that the

availability of better and lower priced bundles of video and broadband service is a

potential benefit of the merger, the Commission also concludes that the public

interest requires us to ensure that a bundle of video and broadband services is not the

only competitive choice for low-income subscribers who may not be able to afford

bundled services. The Commission accordingly requires as a condition of the merger

that AT&T-DIRECTV make available an affordable, low-price standalone broadband

service to low-income consumers in its broadband service area.

Compliance Program and Reporting. Given the important role that these conditions

serve in securing the public interest benefits of the merger, the Commission requires

that AT&T-DIRECTV retain both an internal company compliance officer and an

independent, external compliance officer that will report and monitor, respectively,

the combined entity’s compliance with all conditions of the merger.