Is the satellite merger debate about to get more complicated?
Primosphere, one of the four original applicants for S-DARS spectrum licenses, recently told the FCC that its application is still viable.
The commission earlier denied Primosphere’s original application. The company then asked for that to be reviewed, which hadn’t happened by 2004, and it then wanted to withdraw its “review” request.
Now Primopshere tells the commission that because this step didn’t happen, its application for an S-DARS license is still viable and it wants its request to be considered at the same time the commission is reviewing the merger application from XM and Sirius.
NPR has argued in its own comments to the FCC (see below) that if regulators do approve a merger, they should also require that a “sufficient” amount of the S-band spectrum licenses occupied by the satellite companies be vacated to make room for another satellite radio competitor. Primosphere presumably would love that.
