Did Stankey Just Say AT&T Doesn’t Need DTV?

I think AT&T is largely done with their big fiber push. Over the last few years a LOT of homes that had been on Uverse or slow DSL got upgraded to AT&T Fiber. Sounds like they'll very selectively continue to expand fiber now but if they haven't converted your address yet, I wouldn't hold my breath. Maybe AT&T is trying to decide if they'll go with some form of wireless connection for future home broadband expansion, as Verizon and T-Mobile are doing. I've even read that Charter is considering using some form of fixed wireless to expand at the edges of their footprint.
 
Well if a customer is unhappy and threatening to leave, of course AT&T is going to offer them options to stay. The only strategy they used to have was offering them discounts or freebies like free NFLST. Now they can offer them AT&T TV without having to offer to cut prices (which resulted in a lot of people who knew about this calling up and whining on a yearly basis just to get discounts)

Still though, it's meaningful if AT&T's retention plan has shifted from offering price cuts or freebies to stick with DTV to instead trying to push the customer over to AT&T TV.

I don't think anyone will ever be *forced* off of DTV over to AT&T TV (the way that current UVerse TV customers eventually will be). But I do think AT&T would rather have as many of their DTV customers as possible migrate over to AT&T TV.
 
I don't think anyone will ever be *forced* off of DTV over to AT&T TV (the way that current UVerse TV customers eventually will be). But I do think AT&T would rather have as many of their DTV customers as possible migrate over to AT&T TV.

Why? How does that benefit them? They don't save any money by converting an existing customer, and to the extent that customer pays less (no $15/$7 fees) then it is a net loss for AT&T. Converting them is better than losing them, but there's zero reason for them to try to convert Directv customers who aren't looking to cancel.
 
Why? How does that benefit them? They don't save any money by converting an existing customer, and to the extent that customer pays less (no $15/$7 fees) then it is a net loss for AT&T. Converting them is better than losing them, but there's zero reason for them to try to convert Directv customers who aren't looking to cancel.

Unless AT&T believes there's greater lifetime value in a customer on AT&T TV as opposed to one on DTV. Because, for instance, they intend to spin off/sell DTV and/or because they believe AT&T TV+HBO Max will be a stickier platform than DTV. (And honestly, what ISN'T a stickier platform than DTV, which continues to absolutely hemorrhage subscribers?)
 
I’ve called AT&T about switching to AT&T TV and they say there is no way other than fully canceling my DTV and then waiting a week to order the new service. I’m sure the reps don’t know any better but that’s what I’ve been told a few times now.


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I’ve called AT&T about switching to AT&T TV and they say there is no way other than fully canceling my DTV and then waiting a week to order the new service. I’m sure the reps don’t know any better but that’s what I’ve been told a few times now.


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So, you can't have both services ?
 
AT&T right now doesn’t have the cash to be spending on running fiber to everywhere. Hell, Google which has tons more money then AT&T has pulled way back on their fiber plans due to costs.

They would [potentially] have the cash if they sold D*. Right now broadband is the only consumer line of business that is growing for them, so it makes sense to invest in it if they can. They are still building out in my area, and they are also getting lots of new customers in the process since Google seems to have stalled. That doesn't mean they are going to do that everywhere.
 
They would [potentially] have the cash if they sold D*. Right now broadband is the only consumer line of business that is growing for them, so it makes sense to invest in it if they can. They are still building out in my area, and they are also getting lots of new customers in the process since Google seems to have stalled. That doesn't mean they are going to do that everywhere.
I think the Cell phone business is also making them money.
 
I think the Cell phone business is also making them money.

They are making a lot of revenue from it, but it isn't growing for them. Last quarter saw the continued erosion of their postpaid subscriber base while prepaid subs grew.
 
They are making a lot of revenue from it, but it isn't growing for them. Last quarter saw the continued erosion of their postpaid subscriber base while prepaid subs grew.

Prepaid costs less, I switched from postpaid years ago.
 
Yep. Me too.

Yep. Me three.

I haven't switched to it (yet) but T-Mo's new Connect prepaid plans for $15 and $25 are a great deal if you just need a single line of service for domestic use only. Unlimited voice and text, with either 2 GB or 5 GB of data. And those amounts will increase by 0.5 GB each year for the next few years. That plan was one of the things they committed to offering consumers to get the Sprint deal approved. And as they integrate the Sprint spectrum, their coverage will continue to improve.
 
They would [potentially] have the cash if they sold D*. Right now broadband is the only consumer line of business that is growing for them, so it makes sense to invest in it if they can. They are still building out in my area, and they are also getting lots of new customers in the process since Google seems to have stalled. That doesn't mean they are going to do that everywhere.
Who would buy it?
 
Who would buy it?

It is still making over $4 billion a year, about the same as it was making before all the subscriber losses. The decline will eventually slow, there is still a core audience of people who live in areas without good alternatives or are big time sports fans.

I wonder if they might even see some new signups once the pandemic is over and sports is back to normal. Unfortunately I doubt that will happen this fall, I'm highly skeptical the NFL will be able to make it through a season given what's going with the much more socially distanced sport of baseball so far.
 
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