Martin Says FCC Will Act 'Soon' On Sirius/XM

by Amy Gilroy -- TWICE, 6/5/2008 10:47:00 AM

Washington — The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) may soon act on its review of the proposed Sirius/XM satellite radio merger, according to FCC chairman Kevin Martin.

In an interview on CNBC this morning, Martin discussed the Verizon/Alltel deal among other issues, and said the Sirius/XM deal raised difficult issues. But he said that the companies had agreed to regulatory concessions and said the agency "will hopefully be able to do something on it soon."

Sirius and XM have been waiting for final government approval to merge their companies for well over a year. The U.S. Department of Justice and Sirius and XM shareholders have already approved the deal announced 16 months ago.

The merger of the former rivals is expected to produce more than $4 billion in savings for the combined company and to help jump-start retail sales of satellite radio that have wavered ever since the $5 billion merger was announced in February 2007.