AT&T teases a $5 Internet service to help seal the DirecTV deal

AT&T will offer cheap Internet to food-stamp recipients if the Federal Communications Commission approves the telecom company's big acquisition of DirecTV.

In a regulatory filing, AT&T says it's prepared to make two plans available to low-income consumers. The first would provide speeds of up to 5 megabits per second (or roughly half as fast as the current national average) for $10 a month. After the first 12 months, that price would rise to $20 a month. The other plan would be offered in places where AT&T lacks the infrastructure to provide faster speeds. In those areas, poorer Americans would be able to buy a 1.5 Mbps plan starting at $5 a month for the first 12 months. At that point, the price would increase to $10 a month. AT&T says it would commit to offering the discounts for four years, at which point the subsidies would expire. To take advantage of the deal, applicants would have to prove each year that they qualify for the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, or SNAP, the formal name for US government food stamps.