Moffett doubts if even this will be enough to right the AT&T ship. He believes that while AT&T might make its 2019 financial targets, it could be “at the cost of an even uglier 2020.”
“Interestingly, most of the most aggressive strategies, like trying to keep key content from Time Warner exclusive for the benefit of either DirecTV or their wireless business, would actually hurt near term results,” Moffett said.
When contacted by Motherboard for comment, AT&T would only say that the company has been clear about its plan to eliminate promotions and pay down debt, noting the company has paid down $9 billion in debt since the Time Warner deal closed. It was also quick to insist its current streaming pricing is well in line with comparable services like Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV.
But as Motherboard has exclusively reported, some of this debt is being eliminated courtesy of looming layoffs, despite AT&T receiving tens of billions in tax cuts and regulatory favors from the Trump administration. Many AT&T customers are particularly annoyed by the company’s assault on net neutrality, a move also likely to drive up consumer costs.
Hammering already frustrated customers with yet more price hikes—to pay for mergers nobody wanted—isn’t likely to improve AT&T’s image anytime soon.