NAB says the satellite merger would “violate long-standing commission policies against spectrum monopolies and the pro-competitive vision enshrined by the Telecommunications Act of 1996.”
In reply comments filed at the FCC to MB Docket 07-57, NAB concluded, “There is no legal or factual basis upon which the commission can approve the proposed merger between XM and Sirius.”
NAB also cited a study by telecommunications economist Professor Stephen Wildman, co-director of the Quello Center for Telecommunication Management and Law at Michigan State University. Wildman’s report studies the pricing and advertising dimensions of the satellite radio market and concludes that the FCC should deny the merger application, according to the trade group.
