James Delahunty
9 Jun 2007 5:52
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a public notice on Friday, looking for comments on the proposed merger of XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. and Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. The proposed merger, which is values at $4.7 billion, has seen a lot of industry lobbying, congressional hearings and intensive Wall Street analysis since it was announced back on February 19th.
The FCC is trying to determine whether it is in the public interest for both licenses to be controller by a single company. In 1997, the FCC granted each company a license which stated that one licensee will "not be permitted to acquire control" of the other. The clause was there to ensure "sufficient continuing competition."
The proposed merger is subject to approval by theDepartment of Justice, which will examine possible competitive harm from the combination. The acceptance of the applications for filing starts an informal "shot clock" at the FCC. The FCC tries to finish its its review of mergers within 180 days.
If it is to succeed, the Department of Justice will have to conclude that the merger of the country's only two Satellite Radio providers can not be considered anticompetitive and the FCC would have to allow both to break the condition of the licenses that forbids such a merger. In their defense, Sirius and XM say that a lot has changed in 10 years and now satellite radio competes with all forms of "audio entertainment," including HD Radio, MP3 players and even mobile phones.
The FCC says that interested parties must file initial comments by July 9. Replies to comments are due by July 24. Comments may be filed via e-mail and should include docket number 07-57.
http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs
Source:
Yahoo (AP)