SIRUS and XM merger:

Dem Lawmaker:Sat Radio Merger Should Be OK'd With ConditionsLast update: 2/28/2007 4:32:04 PM

By Corey Boles
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The tie-up between Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. (SIRI) and XM Radio Holdings Inc. (XMSR) should be given the green light as long as the companies agree to a series of voluntary conditions and to freeze prices, Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., said Wednesday. Boucher, a member of both the House Judiciary Committee's Antitrust Task Force and the House Commerce Committee's telecommunications subcommittee, said that as long as the companies agreed to conditions suggested by public interest group Public Knowledge, the merger should be allowed to proceed. The lawmaker made the comment during a hearing of the task force into the satellite radio merger. In her testimony earlier, Gigi B. Sohn, president of Public Knowledge proposed a series of conditions on the deal. The companies would have to allow consumers to subscribe on a channel-by-channel basis or by tiered programming; they must agree to make 5% of capacity available to noncommercial, educational purposes and should agree to freeze prices for three years after the merger is complete. "I would think that if those conditions are reached, the merger should be allowed to proceed," said Boucher. Sirius Chief Executive Mel Karmazin wouldn't commit himself to the conditions but had earlier pledged to cut rates after the merger was completed. Boucher has a long-standing interest in telecommunications issues and is viewed as one of the authorities on the subject in Congress. - By Corey Boles, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6637; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones NewswiresFebruary 28, 2007 16:32 ET (21:32 GMT)Copyright © 2007 MarketWatch, Inc. All rights reserved. Please see