AT & T has promised lower prices after the merger of Time Warner – it's up to them instead

AT & T increases the base price of its DirecTV Now streaming service by $ 5 a month, despite the promise in court that its acquisition of Time Warner Inc. would drive down TV prices.

AT & T confirms rising prices at Ars started to inform customers of the increase this past weekend. "The $ 5 increase will come into effect on July 26 for new customers and will vary for existing customers based on their billing date," said a spokesman for AT & T. [19659002AT&TtoldArsThismeansthatDirecTVNowplansthatcurrentlycost$35$​​50$60and$70amonthgoupto$40$55$65and$75

"To continue to provide the best possible dissemination experience for new and existing customers," said AT & T.

AT & T told a judge

Two months ago to hardly, AT & T said in court that the purchase of Time Warner would allow him to lower prices of the television. The US Justice Department has attempted to stop the merger, arguing that it would increase prices for consumers, but a federal judge has sided with AT & T. merger was completed on June 15.

AT & T mocked the Department of Justice's argument that the merger would drive up prices. The telecommunications giant wrote in its brief after the trial that the merger "will allow AT & T and Time Warner to reduce consumer prices."

"The evidence overwhelmingly showed that this merger is likely to improve It will allow the merged company to reduce its prices, to propose innovative video products and to compete more effectively with the increasingly powerful and vertically integrated "FAANG" [Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google] companies » said US judge Richard Leon.

"There is no solid evidence from which the Court could reasonably conclude that the retail prices of pay television are likely to increase," said AT & T in his brief. his price claims during the trial. "The government concedes that Turner will not retain the content [from other pay-TV operators] and concedes that the merged entity will reduce its own prices to pay TV," writes AT & T.

Prices should benefit consumers quickly, According to AT & T. "[C] Some mergers efficiency begins to exert downward pressure on consumer prices almost immediately [after the merger]" AT & T wrote

Owning Time Warner gives AT & T more controlling how much it pays for the programming that it offers to DirecTV customers. "Currently, our ability to attract more customers from what they want has been limited because we own very little of our own programming and can not unilaterally determine what content we offer. and how consumers can access it, "said Randall Stephenson, CEO of AT & T, at a Senate committee in December 2016, while he was asking the government to approve the merger. "Instead, we need to negotiate these issues with third-party content owners, and in a fast-moving market like video, it's particularly difficult to get flexibility to pursue new and untested business models." . "

When she contacted Ars, AT & T did not explain why the merger of Time Warner did not prevent the $ 5 price increase. But the company noted that it also offers a new streaming service of $ 15 per month with fewer channels; This service is a free add-on for AT & T mobile customers with unlimited plans.

AT & T also removed HBO last month from one of its unlimited mobile data plans and increased the price by $ 5 a month. AT & T recently increased the "administrative fee" charged to postpaid wireless customers by $ 0.76 to $ 1.99 per month, according to BTIG Research.

"AT & T attributed its changes to market forces, but the company could be forced to find new sources of revenue after its $ 85.4 billion purchase of Time Warner," CNBC writes today. . "The timing of price increases and AT & T fees coincides with the closing of the transaction."