Opening salvo from AT&T and DirecTV: $200 monthly promo

view Opening salvo from AT&T and DirecTV: $200 monthly promo

NEW YORK—AT&T didn't waste much time following its acquisition of DirecTV to come up with a combined nationwide wireless and TV promotion that it hopes will draw new customers to the satellite TV service.

Under the $200 a month plan, customers new to DirecTV or AT&T's U-verse TV can get high definition and DVR service for up to four television receivers, along with unlimited talk and text for four up to wireless lines. Ten gigabytes of shareable wireless data are also included.

New DirecTV customers must sign a two-year contract to take advantage of the deal, U-verse customers a one-year contract. But the annual savings of up to $600 are only good for the first year, with prices climbing to prevailing rates after 12 months.

AT&T says you'll be able to watch DirecTV via an app on your phone or tablet right when you sign up at the store, without having to wait for a satellite dish and other gear to be installed first at home.

AT&T is also offering sweeteners to lure defectors from its wireless rivals. Current DirecTV and U-verse customers who switch to AT&T wireless from another carrier will receive a $100 bill credit for each line switched, along with a $200 trade-in credit for a new smartphone for each line.

"This is the first of many steps but we wanted to get out early and make a splash," says Brad Bentley, executive vice president and chief marketing officer, AT&T Entertainment and Internet Services.

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Recon Analytics analyst Roger Entner thinks the first year savings make it a good deal for consumers. "As mobile and video have become the critical services that Americans use, it only makes sense to put them together," he says. Customers will receive a single bill for wireless and TV.

Adds Tammy Parker, a senior analyst at Current Analysis: "This combined TV and wireless offer goes to the heart of why AT&T acquired DirecTV and shows that the carrier is moving very quickly to create bundled offers that rivals cannot easily duplicate. Cable operators and Dish Network are now challenged to develop more differentiated offerings."

Dish has been rumored to be in merger talks with T-Mobile.

Consumers of the new promotion can pile on speedy broadband service at home (where available) at rates starting at $30 a month. DirecTV's popular NFL Sunday Ticket is not tied to the new deal, however, but is available at no extra cost in the first year to new subscribers of other DirecTV plans.