AT&T plans to bundle DirecTV video with satellite-delivered wireless broadband for rural customers

Pending approval of its $49 billion takeover of DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV), AT&T will bundle the satellite operator's pay-TV service with a wireless-broadband product capable of delivering download speeds of 15 Mbps and above, then deliver the package via a single dish to rural customers starting in 2015.

Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO of AT&T's (NYSE: T) mobility division, made the announcement Thursday while speaking at the Goldman Sachs Communicopia conference in New York.

"We see a very bright outlook for [pay-TV]," he said. "That's why we did the [DirecTV] deal."

According to de la Vega, AT&T's wireless Internet services will deliver speeds faster than what is capable with LTE. He described the service as "ready to go," pending regulatory approval of the merger.

Also speaking later at Communicopia, DirecTV President and CEO Mike White continued to stump for the merger, saying, "In my mind, this deal is all about putting two complementary businesses together in a way that offers consumers a better choice--and a better alternative to cable."

For more:
- read this Variety story
- read this FierceWireless story

Related links:
Analyst casts doubt on AT&T's professed bundling efficiencies
AT&T promises FCC cheaper cable, more rural broadband, net neutrality compliance
AT&T says DirecTV deal will reduce programming costs by 20%

Correction, Sept. 13, 2014: This article incorrectly identified the minimum speed at which Ralph de la Vega said a potential fixed wireless broadband service could operate. It was 15 Mbps, not 50 Mbps.