6-25-2014
http://news.yahoo.com/directv-u-law...d-changing-everything-154442122--finance.html
AT&T tells lawmakers DirecTV deal won't guarantee lower prices
U.S. lawmakers grilled AT&T Inc and DirecTV on Tuesday over a proposed merger that some Democrats and public interest groups fear will result in higher costs and less competition.
The chief executives of the No. 2 wireless carrier and the largest U.S. satellite TV service provider testified about their proposed $48.5 billion deal at hearings in the House of Representatives and the Senate, and said the scale the merger would allow them to save on the high costs of negotiating rights to video content.
"I am very, very skeptical as a senator, not just as a consumer," senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, said at a hearing by the Senate Judiciary Committee's antitrust panel.
Blumenthal asked AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson whether he could commit to pass on the savings from lower content fees to consumers dollar-for-dollar.
"No sir, I can't," Stephenson said, but added he hoped the merger would result in slower price increases for consumers.
http://news.yahoo.com/directv-u-law...d-changing-everything-154442122--finance.html
AT&T tells lawmakers DirecTV deal won't guarantee lower prices
U.S. lawmakers grilled AT&T Inc and DirecTV on Tuesday over a proposed merger that some Democrats and public interest groups fear will result in higher costs and less competition.
The chief executives of the No. 2 wireless carrier and the largest U.S. satellite TV service provider testified about their proposed $48.5 billion deal at hearings in the House of Representatives and the Senate, and said the scale the merger would allow them to save on the high costs of negotiating rights to video content.
"I am very, very skeptical as a senator, not just as a consumer," senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, said at a hearing by the Senate Judiciary Committee's antitrust panel.
Blumenthal asked AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson whether he could commit to pass on the savings from lower content fees to consumers dollar-for-dollar.
"No sir, I can't," Stephenson said, but added he hoped the merger would result in slower price increases for consumers.
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