AT&T and DirecTV are still hoping their mega-merger is on track for approval. While they wait, the FCC has been asking them to clarify some of their earlier statements about why this deal is a good idea for the public. And buried in those new answers is the nugget that post-merger, AT&T plans to bring fiber networks to almost 12 million customers… kind of.

AT&T claimed in April that merging with DirecTV would free up the cash for the merged entity to reach an additional 2 million customers with wired broadband. Adding that to their other plans, AT&T now tells the FCC the total plan is to build out fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) service to 11.7 million customers.

The plan, as submitted to the FCC (highly-redacted PDF), presumably includes AT&T’s existing GigaPower subscribers and calls for the entire build-out to be completed within four years of the merger’s close. AT&T provided the commission with a more detailed, year-by-year projected timeline, but that information is not, alas, fit for public consumption:

FCC filings aside, if AT&T’s upgrades are anything like Comcast’s Gigabit Pro service, would-be subscribers should perhaps not hold their collective breath. Kabletown’s 2 GB symmetrical service, which was supposed to launch in May and June and is slated to reach 18 million homes by the end of this year, has yet to launch anywhere or even to have a pricing structure announced.

At this point, the merger seems likely to be approved. If that happens this summer, that would mean AT&T would theoretically be done with their fiber builds in the middle of 2019.

[via DSL Reports]

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