Antitrust Experts: 2 Big Deals Better Than 1

Antitrust experts say AT&T's bid for DirecTV could reap immediate regulatory rewards. Coming so quickly on the heels of a rival cable company merger -- the pairing of Comcast and Time Warner Cable -- makes it easier for regulators to approve both transactions because they create two counterbalanced giants in pay TV.

Experts say the potential benefits of bigger scale, cost savings and promised reinvestment in networks to create speedier connections could be seen to outweigh the damage done to consumers by a reduction in the number of competitors.

"The antitrust regulators might be thinking about Comcast-Time Warner Cable becoming a Goliath with lots of small Davids," said Amanda Wait, a former antitrust attorney with the Federal Trade Commission and partner at Hunton & WiIliams LLP in New York. "What the AT&T deal does -- if it gets approved -- is it creates another strong competitor that looks more like a Goliath than a David. It levels the playing field a little bit," she said.

Although each deal will be examined on its own by the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice, regulators look at the current and future marketplace, according to Justice Department spokeswoman Gina Talamona. "We consider the market as it exists today and where the market may be heading with any pending or proposed deals," she said.