Satellite TV

Wireless Data Plan

Telecom giant AT&T announced the introduction of a new wireless data plan for new and existing TV subscribers. This will apply for people using DirecTV, the satellite TV business that AT&T acquired in July 2015. The new plan kicks in starting Tuesday, and will be open to wireless customers who have or add DirecTV or U-verse TV service.

The base plan provides data, talk and text, and costs $100 on a smartphone. Customers can add this smartphone or tablet for a monthly fee of $40, or a smart watch for $10. A fourth smartphone can be added at no added cost. The company said this plan might be available for a limited time.

On top of this, new and existing DirecTV and U-verse TV customers who are switch to AT&T wireless will stand to get $500 credit under certain conditions. For AT&T customers currently not getting the DirecTV service, there is the option of adding a TV package starting at the 19.99 a month per year, provided that they sign up for a 2 year- contract.

DirecTV

Satellite TV Channels

The fine print says streaming is limited to just five shows on five devices at one time, and is subject to change at any time. With the new plan, AT&T is trying to get new ways to bundles wireless and video services since its merger with DirecTV. With growing competition from rivals like T-Mobile, which is testing the success of Binge On, a service offering that isn’t placing monthly data caps.

According to AT&T, their new plan is the first of several it is going to announce this year, and that some of the others have to do with revamping video entertainment options towards the end of the year. CEO Ralph de la Vega said video traffic continues to grow fast as ever, because people are able to view their favorite contents on their favorite devices. And regarding T-Mobile’s Binge On, he said that the rival service uses proprietary encoding system to deliver zero-rated video to smartphones at 480p.

About the new AT&T plan, he said “We’ve got the content consumers want, we’re delivering it to the devices they want, And We’re making it as easy as ever for them to consume as much as they want. And, they will get a high-quality video streaming experience from the start. No compromises in video quality.”