For years the rumor has floated out there that either Verizon or AT&T would buy DirecTV in order to have direct control of the company's satellite TV operations. Sometimes these rumors are based in conjecture, but more often than not they're based on
nothing whatsoever. With DirecTV prepared to get a new CEO (their last CEO just departed to be Rupert Murdoch's right-hand man at News Corp.), the rumors are apparently bubbling up once again. According to
Reuters, representatives from both AT&T and Verizon
have approached Liberty Media over the last few years about a sale, and the outlet cites sources who believe new CEO Michael White is little more than a "babysitter" until this endlessly-rumored deal can be accomplished.
As it stands, the fastest tier AT&T offers is the company's "Max" 18Mbps/1.5Mbps U-Verse tier, which costs $65 a month as part of a TV bundle. We're now seeing
rumblings in our forums that the carrier may unveil a $75, 24Mbps downstream 2Mbps upstream tier in the middle of August. AT&T wouldn't comment on the rumor, only telling us "We've got no specific plans to share at this time." Of course, that's
what they said when we leaked news of their 18Mbps tier last fall.
Rumors of the faster tier come as AT&T competitor Comcast continues its deployment of faster DOCSIS 3.0 service, which offers 22/5Mbps ($62.95) and 50/10Mbps ($99 per month) tiers.
An insider at Comcast tells us the company will soon be dropping the price on their rather pricey 50Mbps/10Mps tier, which currently costs $139.95 a month. Additional documentation obtained by Broadband Reports seemingly confirm the price cuts -- at least in California. The documents suggest that starting in the June 20 billing cycle, Comcast will be dropping the price of the tier from $139.95 to $99.95 if bundled with TV service and/or Comcast Digital Voice service, while dropping the price to $115.95 for the standalone 50Mbps service.
We asked Comcast for comment and were told they have nothing to announce at this time.
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