AT&T fired another shot in the ongoing mobile price wars, pairing its recently acquired DirecTV satellite TV service with its wireless phone product and offering TV customers $500 in credits for switching cell phone providers.
The moves are a clear signal that AT&T plans to use its newfound TV dominance to help drive its wireless subscribership. The company completed its $48.5 billion purchase of DirecTV on July 24. Combined with its U-Verse TV service, AT&T is now the largest MVPD in the country with 26.3 million customers.
According to AT&T, DirecTV and U-Verse TV customers who switch wireless providers from other carriers like Verizon or Sprint to AT&T would receive a $300 credit per line switched. In addition, DirecTV customers who purchase a new smartphone from AT&T’s Next plan would receive an additional $200 per phone. That means that a family of four that converts four phone lines and buys four new smartphones could receive credits of about $2,000 ($1,200 for switching lines and $800 for the phones).
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