AT&T announces it will buy DirecTV for $49 billion. (Mike Mozart/Flickr)

AT&T finally announced the worst-kept secret in the telecom business on Sunday, officially confirming it was purchasing DirecTV for $49 billion.

The new unholy union will spawn a communication conglomerate capable of rivaling Comcast, giving consumers fewer options and consolidating terrible customer service. Just like we always wanted.

The deal also gives AT&T 20 million new subscribers at a point where legacy cable is dying and disruptive Internet services are threatening traditional subscription models.

Any merger must still be approved by federal regulators, who were instrumental in AT&T's failed T-Mobile acquisition that fell apart spectacularly just a few years ago. But that was a different America, back when Jack Donaghy worked for an electronics conglomerate and not a cable conglomerate.

You can read more at The Washington Post.

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