DirecTV Now platform to include various channel bundles, with streamed video content not counted against select cellular data plans.
AT&T’s long-simmering plans to expand its DirecTV video empire to mobile is set to begin, with the telecom giant announcing the impending launch of the DirecTV Now streaming service.
The carrier said the offering is set to launch Nov. 30, with customers able to access the service by downloading an application through Apple’s App Store or Google’s Play application store. Customers can sample the service for seven days, with AT&T customers on qualified data plans able to stream unlimited video content without touching their data allotment.
Package pricing begins at $35 per month for access to more than 60 channels; moves up to $50 per month for more than 80 channels; $60 per month for more than 100 channels; and tops out at $70 per month for more than 120 channels. AT&T is offering the $60 plan for $35 per month as a limited-time promotion, with customers selecting the package able to keep that price for as long as they maintain the package.
Access to premium channels HBO and Cinemax is available for an additional $5 per month per channel, and customers can also access their package through various connected devices like the Amazon Fire products, Apple TV and Google’s Chromecast. Customers prepaying for a one-month subscription are being offered an Amazon Fire TV Stick, while a three-month prepaid subscription brings a free Apple TV.
AT&T is also spreading some promotional love to its Cricket Wireless prepaid brand, with customers being granted a one-month free trial of the service that can be used via the Cricket Wi-Fi application or a cellular connection for Cricket customer with unlimited data plans.
AT&T initially announced the DirecTV Now move earlier this year, touting it as a “mobile-first” user experience for accessing “premium video and made-for-digital content directly on a smartphone, regardless of the wireless provider.” The move followed its $48.5 billion acquisition of DirecTV in mid-2015.
In the meantime, AT&T offered up zero-rated video options for DirecTV customers that allowed for the streaming of content via a cellular connection for wireless customers on unlimited data plans or who are using the DirecTV application.
The mobile-focused platform positions the carrier to take on similar moves by rivals Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile US and Sprint.
Verizon Wireless last year launched its Go90 video service, which offers mobile subscribers access to select live and on-demand video. More importantly, Verizon Wireless has the exclusive right to stream NFL games to mobile devices, which would seem to limit DirecTV’s exclusive NFL Sunday Ticket package.
T-Mobile US followed the Go90 launch with its Binge On service, which allows select customers to stream video content from dozens of content providers at a limited video quality level over the carrier’s cellular network without eating into their monthly data allotment. Sprint recently launched a similar plan as part of its “unlimited” data push.
AT&T Mobility is set to take a similar path with the impending launch of its Stream Saver service, which is said to reduce the video quality of most high-definition content to standard-definition quality, or about 480p. When launched early next year, the platform is set to be available for free to customers on the carrier’s “most popular plans with data,” including its prepaid GoPhone service.
Bored? Why not follow me on Twitter.
