DISH Network, the US satellite television provider, said it has received notice that phone operator AT&T is ending their agreement at the end of the year to sell TV, phone and Internet packages. AT&T and DISH have had a joint marketing agreement since July 2003 to sell the “triple-play” package in AT&T regions.

AT&T said it provided the required six-month notification for non-renewal of its current contract with DISH. “We continue to discuss options with DISH,” it said in a statement. In early April, AT&T said it had expanded its partnership with DISH in territory previously covered by BellSouth Corp, which AT&T acquired in late 2006, and had stopped marketing a similar package with DIRECTV Group Inc, the No. 1 US satellite TV operator.

That move prompted speculation that AT&T had entirely dropped DIRECTV in favor of a DISH partnership. But AT&T has repeatedly said it was still talking to both about a long-term partnership for bundled phone, Internet and video services, and that a final decision was due by the end of the year.

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