AT&T buys DirecTV for US$48.5 Billion Dollars - Spectrum Grab for Satellite Broadband to compete with Google and Facebook

The shocking news has settled in yet even I still cannot believe it!

Dallas, Texas-based Telecom Provider AT&T has finally purchased El Segundo, California-based DirecTV for a whopping US$48.5 Billion Dollars as reported in “AT&T to acquire DirecTV for $48,5B in Blockbuster deal”, published May 18, 2014 2:56 PM PDT by Roger Cheng, CNET News and “AT&T To Buy DirecTV For $48.5 Billion”, published  5/18/2014 @ 7:18PM by Jeremy Bogaisky, Forbes.

This deal is of such megalithic proportions, especially to many Jamaicans who are still have a satellite Dish Receiver from DirecTV as reported in “AT&T agrees to buy DirecTV in US$48.5B deal”, Published: Sunday May 18, 2014 5:46 pm, The Jamaica Gleaner.

The deal, if it passes muster with Federal Communications Commission and antitrust regulators at the Department of Justice, will result in a Digital Cable Television Platform that serves a total of 26 million, when Satellite Television Provider DirecTV 's 20.3 million and Telecom Provider AT&T 5.7 million are combined.

It will also give Telecom Provider AT&T in partnership with Honeywell and Immarsat as described in my blog article entitled “Honeywell partners with Immarsat for In-Flight Satellite Broadband in 2013AD - Konshens Gal a Bubble for Qualcomm Airplane Broadband” access to additional Satellite Spectrum to allow them to extend the range of their Satellite Broadband Service so as to provide In-Flight Wireless Broadband on Airplanes.

Cable TV is slowly being monopolized by Triple Play Provider FLOW, with Satellite TV being an option that many Jamaicans still use to avoid illegal Cable TV or the regional Restrictions of Triple Play Provider FLOW in getting American content. Interestingly, Satellite Broadband is an area of Regulation that has slipped under the Radar here in Jamaica, as no Satellite Broadband Telecom Providers aside from Hughes are known to exist in Jamaica!

So Telecom Provider AT&T may be using Satellite Television Provider DirecTV to set up a global Satellite Broadband Network powered by Telecom Provider AT&T! Read on and I’ll explain what drove Telecom Provider AT&T to make this amazingly groundbreaking decision!

Television is Dead - AT&T not buying DirecTV for Television but for Spectrum

On the face of it, this deal, like the Apple’s deal to purchase Beats Electronics as chronicled in my blog article entitled “Apple to buy Beats Electronics for US$3.2 Billion - Interaxion Mind Reading Device as when Mind Audio Hits, You Feel No Pain” makes no sense, as BOTH Telecom Provider AT&T and Satellite Television Provider DirecTV provide Digital Cable TV Service.

Worse, Streaming is now slowly encroaching on the Television World in the US of A based on data from Global Information Company the NPD Group as I’d predicted in my blog article entitled “Cable TV subscriptions Declines as the Connected Home boost IPTV Streaming”.

Within Silicon Valley and among other Technology Providers, there is recognition of this gentle slow shift towards Streaming….and many, including some Broadcasters, as preparing for this eventual future.

This as evidenced from Amazon’s launch of their Amazon Fire TV 2-in-one Set Top Streaming and Gaming Box as I’d predicted and as had finally happened in my blog article entitled “Amazon Fire TV is a bonafide hit and is out-of-stock according to Amazon - The Bamboo powered smartphone running Amazon apps cometh”. They’re gearing up for that shift by providing a way for their Amazon Prime customer to also Stream the very same content that they pay for from their Amazon.

More are sure to come, as many, like myself, are expecting Apple to upgrade their Apple iTV to play video Games and possibly in the future even launch a Television Set as long predicted in my blog article entitled “Apple to launch TV and a Cloud Gaming Console in 2014 - How the Apple iTV and Television Set can kill The Grandmaster in the guise of Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft”.

In the meantime, here in Jamaica, there is also a shift toward Streaming among the Local Television Broadcaster in Jamaica, as the RJR Communication Group is also planning to launch their own Streaming Platform power by UNIV’s uVOD (Video on Demand) Streaming Platform as chronicled in my blog article entitled “RJR Group to launch UNIV’s uVOD Streaming Platform by October 2014 - Streaming Gamble against Piracy as 2015 is DSO to DTT and Digital HD Radio”.

So this is clearly a Spectrum Grab, not a Cable Television Grab. Telecom Provider AT&T is merely buying Satellite Television Provider DirecTV to get access to their Spectrum.

Satellite Broadband Expands – AT&T DirecTV Satellite Broadband to connect the Last Mile 

In fact, Telecom Provider AT&T is currently expanding its Fiber-Optic based U-Verse Service to counter Google Fiber’s planned expansion of their 1GB Service to more cities in the United States of America as I’d pointed out in my blog article entitled “AT&T launching 4G LTE powered Wi-Fi and expanding AT&T U-Verse - AT&T offensive as Google sprouts 1 Gigabit IEEE 802.11ac Wi-Fi Protocol as Jamaica catches up”.

They had also made a deal with Honeywell to launch In-Flight Wireless Broadband Business, most likely using the 1 Gigabit capable IEEE 802.11ac Wi-Fi Protocol that is the basis of Qualcomm's Next Gen-AG as pointed out in my blog article entitled “Qualcomm to create Airplane Wi-Fi named Next Gen-AG using 500MHz of unused 14GHz Spectrum - 300MBps in the Mile High Club”.

Thus by acquiring Satellite Television Provider DirecTV, it would allow them to get their hands of blocks of Spectrum needed to launch a Global Satellite Broadband Platform to compete with Google as explained in my blog article entitled “Telecom Providers and Satellite Broadband - Quantum of Solace and The Tourist”.

This Satellite Broadband Network being built by Telecom Provider AT&T in partnership with Honeywell would then be used to deliver Streaming Digital Cable TV Service, both in Pay-per-view format as well as in Regular Cable Digital Cable TV format.

It would also allow them to re-use and re-purpose the Satellite Spectrum to deliver Satellite Broadband to airplanes in flight, making them have customer both on the Ground as well as in the air! This as there is good revenue to be made, not in the Crowded Television Field, but in providing Satellite Broadband Service to customers in Developed and Developing World Countries.

In these countries, the Last Mile may appear unprofitable for Local Telecom Providers but a profitable venture for AT&T/DirecTV tie up. They merely set up shop in that country and sell, install competitively priced Satellite Dish Transponders to customers to Wireless Broadband Internet!

They would make revenue too from monthly subscriptions as well as from the Maintenance of this physical Infrastructure via contracting a Satellite Maintenance Company to maintain these installed Satellite Transponders.

So it’s not about Telecom Provider AT&T acquiring a Satellite Cable TV Service. Rather, it’s about expanding their service to compete with Google and Facebook as stated in “Google buys solar-powered drone company Titan Aerospace”, published  April 14, 2014 11:28 AM PDT by Nick Statt, CNET News and “Facebook building drones and lasers with Connectivity Lab", published March 27, 2014 1:41 PM PDT by Jennifer Van Grove, CNET News to connect the last three Billion people across the world that have no access to Broadband Internet.

In the process, Americans will also get In-flight Airplane Broadband and improved Satellite Broadband via Satellite Television Provider DirecTV powered by Telecom Provider AT&T!