BellSouth to add DirecTV to services

ATLANTA — BellSouth Corp. and DirecTV Inc. have agreed to add the satellite television service to the telephone company’s bundle of local, long-distance and Internet options.

The offering is expected to be launched early next year throughout BellSouth’s nine-state network. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, and prices for the new plan have not been determined.

“The ink is hardly dry, but we’re optimistic about the ability to deliver this in our packages today and what it might mean for us tomorrow,” BellSouth chief executive Duane Ackerman said Tuesday.

The plan calls for BellSouth and DirecTV to discount their respective offerings if purchased as part of a package of services. BellSouth will market, sell and schedule the installation of DirecTV for its customers, who will receive a single bill for all services.

The joint venture follows similar deals announced in July, including EchoStar Communications Corp.’s partnership with SBC Communications Inc. The deal calls for EchoStar’s Dish Network satellite TV service to be bundled with SBC’s telecommunications services.

SBC invested $500 million in EchoStar, but BellSouth is not buying an equity interest in DirecTV. BellSouth’s hope is that DirecTV customers will sign up for BellSouth services knowing that they’ll get a discount for buying a package.

These alliances between phone and satellite TV companies are arising in reaction to tough competition from the cable industry, which controls more than 60 percent of the high-speed Internet access market and is expanding its efforts to offer phone service to its customers as well.