Though the merger of XM and Sirius appears to be on track, several senators last week made one last push for stricter guidelines, calling on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to require that the two satellite companies turn over up to 50 percent of their holdings to independent companies and integrate HD radio into all satellite radio receivers.
“We remain concerned that the merger of these two companies will eliminate competition in the satellite digital audio radio service (SDARS)," Democratic senators John Kerry of Massachusetts, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, and Ben Cardin of Maryland wrote in a letter to FCC chairman Kevin Martin.
Martin last month said he would support a merger between XM and Sirius after the two companies agreed to conditions that would cap prices and require openness. The Department of Justice approved the deal in March, and FCC approval is now the final regulatory hurdle.
Kerry, McCaskill, and Cardin said the conditions “fail to provide meaningful competition in the SDARS marketplace, and would leave the merged entity in a position to exercise its market power in anti-competitive ways against other media, including free, over-the-air radio."
“We remain concerned that the merger of these two companies will eliminate competition in the satellite digital audio radio service (SDARS)," Democratic senators John Kerry of Massachusetts, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, and Ben Cardin of Maryland wrote in a letter to FCC chairman Kevin Martin.
Martin last month said he would support a merger between XM and Sirius after the two companies agreed to conditions that would cap prices and require openness. The Department of Justice approved the deal in March, and FCC approval is now the final regulatory hurdle.
Kerry, McCaskill, and Cardin said the conditions “fail to provide meaningful competition in the SDARS marketplace, and would leave the merged entity in a position to exercise its market power in anti-competitive ways against other media, including free, over-the-air radio."
