We have seen many acquisitions in the tech world over the past few years, some of them raking in billions of dollars. But reports have it that AT&T is all set to trump them by acquiring the pay TV mammoth DirectTV in a $50 billion deal.
AT&T has long been trying to expand itself beyond being a wireless carrier. The company has tried to push forth its broadband internet services and with the DirectTV acquisition, it will be in a position to control a very significant portion of the TV industry.
The company may have a grander vision for the long-term, a consolidation of the wireless internet with the satellite-based pay-TV service, so that users may be able to stream their DirectTV content over an AT&T wireless internet. According to analysts, the deal is a real breakthrough for DirectTV. The entertainment industry is fast becoming integrated with the internet and DirectTV, on its own with a pay-TV-only service, was bound to grow obsolete.
If the deal with AT&T comes through, DirectTV will not only survive but become a part of something larger. However, so far the intent of AT&T remains unclear. Analysts estimate that the wireless giant is acquiring DirectTV for cash purposes and has no intents of integrating the purchase with its other services.
From a customer standpoint, it is certainly daunting to see AT&T possibly muscle up yet another huge acquisition. As it is, the company has an abysmal record towards user privacy, data security and its treatment of people who expose its security flaws. The silver lining is that the federal regulators will be scrutinizing this deal pretty closely and AT&T wouldn’t be concluding it any time soon.
Courtesy: Forbes
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