AT&T CEO hints at possibility of joint cable promotions

Noting that AT&T (NYSE: T) has not opposed the deals Verizon (NYSE: VZ) has struck to market mobile phone and data services in joint promotions with Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA), Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) and other cable MSOs, CEO Randall Stephenson suggested Thursday that the company may be open to crafting similar agreements with cable operators.

Stephenson

"I think it'll be interesting to see how the FCC deals with it. It would appear to me to be a logical transaction. Obviously we will be watching very closely," Stephenson said on AT&T's fourth-quarter earnings call. "It should give us clarity on what we're able to do as we go forward," Stephenson added.

Verizon struck a $3.6 billion deal in December to buy Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum from a company owned by Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House, and it signed a $315 million agreement to buy spectrum from Cox Communications.

Verizon has also reached separate marketing deals with cable MSOs that would allow it to market its products to cable customers, and would allow Comcast and other MSOs to sell their services to Verizon homes. While Sprint, T-Mobile and some consumer groups have complained that those deals could reduce competition, AT&T has sat on the sidelines in the weeks since Verizon announced its agreements with cable MSOs.

Comcast recently began offering a joint marketing promotion in Seattle that offers subscribers that order new Xfinity TV and Verizon Wireless service a $300 prepaid Visa card. Time Warner Cable said today that it'll launch similar promotions in major cities during the first half of 2011. Stephenson noted that the promotion is available in a market where Verizon and Comcast don't compete head to head. While AT&T competes with Comcast and other operators for pay TV and high-speed Internet service with its U-verse TV and Internet offering, the company could look to team up with operators in markets where it doesn't offer U-verse to offer similar promotions.

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