American telecom service provider AT&T today said it received the approval for the proposed $48.5 billion acquisition of DirecTV from Brazil’s Agencia Nacional de Telecomunicacoes (ANATEL) as well as Trinidad and Tobago.
Earlier, AT&T received antitrust approval in Brazil. Regulatory review is now complete in both countries.
In July, the merger review process was completed among regulators at the U.S. state level.
AT&T’s Petitions with the Public Service Commissions in Louisiana and Arizona did not receive protests or interventions and the Petitions were deemed approved in July.
AT&T has also filed an informational notice with the Hawaii Commission.
To smoothen the approval process, AT&T has committed to expand and enhance its deployment of both wireline and fixed wireless high-speed Internet to cover at least 15 million customer locations across 48 states – most of them in underserved rural areas.
Meanwhile, DirecTV extended its exclusive $1.5 billion contract to sell the Sunday Ticket package of National Football League games.
The deal announced on Wednesday removes a potential roadblock to AT&T’s proposed $48.5 billion purchase of the satellite TV provider. AT&T had the right to pull out of the deal if DirecTV was unable to renew its Sunday Ticket pact.
DirecTV’s annual payments to the NFL would average $1.5 billion for eight years.
Reuters reported that DirecTV sells the package of Sunday games to its subscribers for about $300 a year, a key marketing advantage over cable TV competitors. Roughly 2 million people receive the service, which allows them to watch games outside of their local markets.
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