AT&T To Buy DIRECTV for $67 Billion

[Jimbo]

Cox Pushes AT&T/DirecTV Conditions
Cox executives met with FCC officials this week to hammer home their point that the proposed AT&T/DirecTV poses threats to competition and should only be granted if the FCC addresses that anticompetitive potential through targeted conditions, including holding them to the same basic service tier requirements that apply to cable ops.

Citing a "troubling and unprecedented combination of wireline, wireless, and satellite assets," Cox said that the deal would need "narrow conditions" but also "strict limits" on the combined company's ability to "use its nationwide scale and massive size to engage in unfair competitive practices."

broadcastingcable.com

Wah .... , of course its to gain a competitive edge ... why else would you do something like this.

As for the edge that the cable companies are complaining about, how about if the Sat companies were able to go by the Cable rules all along, cable has had advantages from the beginning.

 

[dfergie]

AT&T Pitches Trio of DirecTV Deal Benefits

AT&T said its studies showed that consumers would prefer the integrated bundle of service versus the current "synthetic bundle." Rather than DirecTV and AT&T broadband being sold together in that "synthetic" bundle has been the case, AT&T says combining the companies will allow for "the convenience and simplicity that comes from having a single installation appointment to make, a single bill to pay, and a single company to call for service issues."

"This transaction will not only create a stronger competitor to cable, but also a competitor that, like AT&T today, considers providing seamless and high quality access to the full range of OVD services to be a strategic imperative," AT&T said.


AT&T distanced itself from the Comcast/TWC combo, telling the FCC that unlike "a combination of two companies that offer broadband," it would not get any additional broadband subs from DirecTV. "As a result, this transaction results in no change to AT&T’s broadband footprint," AT&T pointed out.

.multichannel.com

 

[Zashel]

yea, the whole reason for this is to make more money. so when you walk into your AT&T store to upgrade your phone, they're guna ask if you want a side of D* with that, giving D* a massive retail presence. as for the techs, i dont see much difference in putting up a dish and running coax vs putting up a new line from a pole to your house. but it'll be a pain in the butt when the poor guy shows up and tells you that you cant get TV because of the big tree out front, but your good on internet lol.

 

[Jimbo]

yea, the whole reason for this is to make more money. so when you walk into your AT&T store to upgrade your phone, they're guna ask if you want a side of D* with that, giving D* a massive retail presence. as for the techs, i dont see much difference in putting up a dish and running coax vs putting up a new line from a pole to your house. but it'll be a pain in the butt when the poor guy shows up and tells you that you cant get TV because of the big tree out front, but your good on internet lol.

This has the potential to give the sub D*, If not available, they can give them Uverse from the pole !

Unfortunately, I'm sure it won't be that easy.

Whenever I go into an ATT store, you'll see the Cell phones of course and then the TV section, they ALWAYS have Uverse running, not sure I have EVER seen an active D* box in the store ...

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

You guys still think that when this all is said and done that ATT employees will just start doing D* installs and repairs ...

It is what they did here in CT before Frontier took over.

 

[dishcomm]

Wah .... , of course its to gain a competitive edge ... why else would you do something like this.

As for the edge that the cable companies are complaining about, how about if the Sat companies were able to go by the Cable rules all along, cable has had advantages from the beginning.

It's not an "edge"...A merged AT&T and Directv would be more like a sledge hammer.
To be honest. I oppose these mergers between large corps...Unless of course there are pro consumer conditions attached....
I don't care about Cox per se.. I am thinking only of the consumer.

 

[dishcomm]

yea, the whole reason for this is to make more money. so when you walk into your AT&T store to upgrade your phone, they're guna ask if you want a side of D* with that, giving D* a massive retail presence. as for the techs, i dont see much difference in putting up a dish and running coax vs putting up a new line from a pole to your house. but it'll be a pain in the butt when the poor guy shows up and tells you that you cant get TV because of the big tree out front, but your good on internet lol.

I went through that many times as a Dish tech. In this area, Dish has an alliance with Windstream. We did the satellite and Windstream did the internet/phone.
When I had to tell the customer about the no line of sight, there were times when that did not go over well.
As far as I am concerned, all satellite sales through 3rd parties should have required a trip to perform a site survey before the transaction was finalized.

 

[dishcomm]

It is what they did here in CT before Frontier took over.

No kidding.....I wonder how this goes over given that AT&T non exempt( hourly) employees are unionized.
One issue though. As the position/job class was created well after the last contract was ratified. The AT&T "wire techs" ( they used to be called "Premise Techs" )are NOT part of the union.
I wonder if ..Should this merger go through, woud AT&T keep it that way.
Some people in the installer zone have been promoting unionization of satellite techs. I oppose for a number of reasons.
One thing is for sure. Unionized techs would be MUCH more expensive. And with that, the days of "free" anything would come to an end.

 

[AZ.]

No kidding.....I wonder how this goes over given that AT&T non exempt( hourly) employees are unionized.
One issue though. As the position/job class was created well after the last contract was ratified. The AT&T "wire techs" ( they used to be called "Premise Techs" )are NOT part of the union.
I wonder if ..Should this merger go through, woud AT&T keep it that way.
Some people in the installer zone have been promoting unionization of satellite techs. I oppose for a number of reasons.
One thing is for sure. Unionized techs would be MUCH more expensive. And with that, the days of "free" anything would come to an end.

Yea what a shame the techs could earn a little more money , have a little more say in safety concerns maybe a little pension?....
I would hate to see Direct have to dip into there profits to help fellow blue collar Americans...

 

[dishcomm]

Yea what a shame the techs could earn a little more money , have a little more say in safety concerns maybe a little pension?....
I would hate to see Direct have to dip into there profits to help fellow blue collar Americans...

Wow....Every uninformed individual believes union membership is a panacea....
Hey, I've been there. Unions are not all that and a bag of chips.
There are the head scratching illogical work rules. Prohibitions on using certain labor saving tools and devices.
The silly rules regarding who a union member can speak to ( anyone in management is off limits).
The lists of places union members should not shop. Products they should not by..
The constant badgering about politics during campaign season. Everybody who has a stake wants to make sure no member votes for the "wrong" candidate.
And of course the dues. And don't DARE ask on what the money is spent.
Really, the money isn't all that great. Most of the additional pay is gobbled up by dues and other fees.
Pension? Not in the private sector.
And God forbid the union bosses get a twist in their panties during contract negotiations. Union members are told they cannot work. Who needs THAT crap....
All of the above makes me ecstatic I reside in a right to work state.

 

[dishcomm]

Yea what a shame the techs could earn a little more money , have a little more say in safety concerns maybe a little pension?....
I would hate to see Direct have to dip into there profits to help fellow blue collar Americans...

BY the way....All of those safety regs? Those are for the most part OSHA regs. Now there are additional work rules unions mandate. But a lot of those are just plain stupid.

 

[AZ.]

Get a life..... lol.....Its people like you that give them a bad name.....lol

Had over 40 years in the IBEW....Thank god......Have a life after work and never problems and can retire a simple life....Im the norm......Your Red state model had destroyed any chance for middleclass America to ever recover!....

Hope nothing but greed and corporate America to eat any and all of your savings!!!!.....Have fun with your right to work mentality.....Trickle down your leg economics!!!!.....

It will be to late when you wake up....LOL..... Hope we eliminate all those safety nets that's should really help also.....

 

[dishcomm]

Get a life..... lol.....Its people like you that give them a bad name.....lol

Had over 40 years in the IBEW....Thank god......Have a life after work and never problems and can retire a simple life....Im the norm......Your Red state model had destroyed any chance for middleclass America to ever recover!....

Hope nothing but greed and corporate America to eat any and all of your savings!!!!.....Have fun with your right to work mentality.....Trickle down your leg economics!!!!.....

It will be to late when you wake up....LOL..... Hope we eliminate all those safety nets that's should really help also.....

Get a life?.....Oh I get it....Everyone has to kowtow to your way of thinking or else they are attacked.
Great.....
I went down the union road. Hated it...
And one other thing.....7% of the nation's private sector work force is unionized. NOBODY wants them around....
Remember that thing in Chattanooga? The VW plant?....TWICE unions tried to get their grubby paws on the plant. The workers rejected the union TWICE.....Done....
And don't give me crap about the IBEW...They are the worst.
I was working a union paint shop in NYC. We needed a couple hours OT to get a job done so that we'd close it ahead of time. We would receive a bonus for doing so....So my foreman asked the electrical foreman to let us stay. He said no. His guys shut off the lights at precisely 3:30 pm and not a minute later. Why? who knows? Maybe just to be a prick or he wanted his palm greased. Probably the latter. And of course the stupid union rules prevented anyone other than a IBEW guy to...get this....Flip a switch....Heck we couldn't even change a friggin blown out light bulb in our work area. The electrician had to do it.. What nonsense.
So we lost our bonus. Some of the guys wanted to sabotage the electricians work. Our foreman was a level headed guy..
I quit that job a couple weeks later. Never joined another union after that ever again....Union people exist in their own reality. A bubble completely disconnected from the real world.

 

[dishcomm]

Get a life..... lol.....Its people like you that give them a bad name.....lol

Had over 40 years in the IBEW....Thank god......Have a life after work and never problems and can retire a simple life....Im the norm......Your Red state model had destroyed any chance for middleclass America to ever recover!....

Hope nothing but greed and corporate America to eat any and all of your savings!!!!.....Have fun with your right to work mentality.....Trickle down your leg economics!!!!.....

It will be to late when you wake up....LOL..... Hope we eliminate all those safety nets that's should really help also.....

Oh.....GUess what? My variable annuity and other investments are in corporate America....Makes me money..
So is your pension fund. So are 401ks....IRAs and whole host of other things you don't care to admit.
Without those EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVIL.. Corporations, you wouldn't have a pension.

 

[Jimbo]

No kidding.....I wonder how this goes over given that AT&T non exempt( hourly) employees are unionized.
One issue though. As the position/job class was created well after the last contract was ratified. The AT&T "wire techs" ( they used to be called "Premise Techs" )are NOT part of the union.
I wonder if ..Should this merger go through, woud AT&T keep it that way.
Some people in the installer zone have been promoting unionization of satellite techs. I oppose for a number of reasons.
One thing is for sure. Unionized techs would be MUCH more expensive. And with that, the days of "free" anything would come to an end.

The Prem Techs here (still called Prem Techs) ARE Union, at least here they are.

Our contract is up as we speak, we are currently working under the old contract to see if things can get worked out.

The company wants to up our Medical by 260%.
Also on the company ajenda is Freezing or doing away with Pensions, those with 20, 25 30 years would be screwed, with NO Pension ... ?
They didn't say new hires ... which would be one way for them to do it.

Yes, I can see a STRIKE in the future.

 

[Jimbo]

Wow....Every uninformed individual believes union membership is a panacea....
Hey, I've been there. Unions are not all that and a bag of chips.
There are the head scratching illogical work rules. Prohibitions on using certain labor saving tools and devices.
The silly rules regarding who a union member can speak to ( anyone in management is off limits).
The lists of places union members should not shop. Products they should not by..
The constant badgering about politics during campaign season. Everybody who has a stake wants to make sure no member votes for the "wrong" candidate.
And of course the dues. And don't DARE ask on what the money is spent.
Really, the money isn't all that great. Most of the additional pay is gobbled up by dues and other fees.
Pension? Not in the private sector.
And God forbid the union bosses get a twist in their panties during contract negotiations. Union members are told they cannot work. Who needs THAT crap....
All of the above makes me ecstatic I reside in a right to work state.

Yup, I would make about half the money I do (probably less) ....
Unions are worthless in some eyes ...
If you have been supported by unions over your career you'll typically see otherwise.

As for your statements above, some are true ... that said, you all have your own opinions, when you are in that position, you CAN make your own choice, you don't want the Union when you have issues, thats fine, you have that option too.
As for voting .. If you think EVERYONE votes what the union wants, vs what the individual wants, your nuts.

I can't go to much farther here or you'll have to move the comments to another forum.

 

[dishcomm]

The Prem Techs here (still called Prem Techs) ARE Union, at least here they are.

Our contract is up as we speak, we are currently working under the old contract to see if things can get worked out.

The company wants to up our Medical by 260%.
Also on the company ajenda is Freezing or doing away with Pensions, those with 20, 25 30 years would be screwed, with NO Pension ... ?
They didn't say new hires ... which would be one way for them to do it.

Yes, I can see a STRIKE in the future.

I have a friend at AT&T here in Charlotte....He tells me the Wire techs are still not in the union....The Union and AT&T have not come to a new agreement....Back in 2008 I went through the whole process. The physical. The tests. Interview. I was hired. I got a call from an HR guy in Atlanta. he went through his schpiel and got to the money....Starting pay was $9 to $11 per hour...Top wage was $15.....Finished the call. Never showed up....Not for that crappy money. One thing that tips me off that the situation isn't working out well is AT&T is running ads on careerbuilder.com at least once a month. According to my friend over there it due to turnover. Lots of guys leaving.
I really wanted to work over there. I figured I'd stick it out, hopefully the pay would improve and I'd work 20 years and retire. Oh well.

 

[Jimbo]

And don't give me crap about the IBEW...They are the worst.
I was working a union paint shop in NYC. We needed a couple hours OT to get a job done so that we'd close it ahead of time. We would receive a bonus for doing so....So my foreman asked the electrical foreman to let us stay. He said no. His guys shut off the lights at precisely 3:30 pm and not a minute later. Why? who knows? Maybe just to be a prick or he wanted his palm greased. Probably the latter. And of course the stupid union rules prevented anyone other than a IBEW guy to...get this....Flip a switch....Heck we couldn't even change a friggin blown out light bulb in our work area. The electrician had to do it.. What nonsense.
So we lost our bonus. Some of the guys wanted to sabotage the electricians work. Our foreman was a level headed guy..
I quit that job a couple weeks later. Never joined another union after that ever again....Union people exist in their own reality. A bubble completely disconnected from the real world.

Not EVERY Union would have done THIS.
There is plenty of OT available ...
In a typical union shop if you guys needed to work an hour or two, no problem ... most work well with thier management ... not all management are scum like you seem to make it out to be.
Most work well together.
Your experience may vary.

 

[dishcomm]

The Prem Techs here (still called Prem Techs) ARE Union, at least here they are.

Our contract is up as we speak, we are currently working under the old contract to see if things can get worked out.

The company wants to up our Medical by 260%.
Also on the company ajenda is Freezing or doing away with Pensions, those with 20, 25 30 years would be screwed, with NO Pension ... ?
They didn't say new hires ... which would be one way for them to do it.

Yes, I can see a STRIKE in the future.

My friend across the street works for Ericsson which bought Sprint's fiber network....His pension was converted to a 401k...He says he's actually accumulating growth in value faster. than the pension fund.
My friend's father is a pilot for what is now AA....When US Airways merged with America West, part of the deal was the pension went bye bye.
Defined benefit pensions are no longer sustainable. Almost put GM out of business.

 

[Jimbo]

I have a friend at AT&T here in Charlotte....He tells me the Wire techs are still not in the union....The Union and AT&T have not come to a new agreement....Back in 2008 I went through the whole process. The physical. The tests. Interview. I was hired. I got a call from an HR guy in Atlanta. he went through his schpiel and got to the money....Starting pay was $9 to $11 per hour...Top wage was $15.....Finished the call. Never showed up....Not for that crappy money. One thing that tips me off that the situation isn't working out well is AT&T is running ads on careerbuilder.com at least once a month. According to my friend over there it due to turnover. Lots of guys leaving.
I really wanted to work over there. I figured I'd stick it out, hopefully the pay would improve and I'd work 20 years and retire. Oh well.

Had you stuck it out your pay would have increased .. the job that is on line in for U Verse side of the company, not my side.

I started out 25 years ago at $6 something an hour, you get a raise every year, after 5 years your at top pay, it's hard in the beginning, but once you get to the top, you are doing ok.
One your at top pay, you get a raise once a year ...

The U verse side of things is a bit different, they definitely are union here, can't say about elsewhere.
I'm in the Midwest region.

U verse side of things working wise are much different as they work you much like you would with D* or Dish, you pick up work in the AM and work till the work is done, which mean you could be done at 4:30 or not till 10 pm or so.

Personally, I wouldn't work that way, but thats just me.