The two U.S. satellite radio companies don’t market their services outside the contiguous 48 states because their satellites and configurations don’t permit reliable coverage in places like Alaska, Hawaii and U.S. territories.
Representatives of those areas have written FCC Chairman Martin asking that if the commission does approve the proposed merger, it require the company to make its “full range of satellite services” available to residents of the “excluded states and territories” within two years.
In addition to Alaska and Hawaii, members of the “Outlying Areas Senate Presidents Caucus” include Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands and Puerto Rico. The caucus formed last year among Senate presidents of outlying states and territories to identify common problems, “many of which are not shared by the 48 contiguous states,” and seek consensus on possible solutions, they said in the letter.
