Players React to Sparano Firing

The federal government said Tuesday it won’t pull the plug on AT&T’s $48.5 billion deal to buy DirecTV, clearing the way for the merger of the No. 2 wireless carrier and the No. 1 satellite TV service, NBC News reported. The Justice Department’s antitrust division OK’d the deal after the Federal Communications Commission circulated a proposed order, with certain conditions, earlier Tuesday that would allow it to go ahead. The merger could allow AT&T to improve its Internet service by pushing its U-verse TV subscribers into video-over-satellite service. “If the conditions are approved by my colleagues, 12.5 million customer locations will have access to a competitive high-speed fiber connection,” FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said.