WISCONSINREPORT.COM (04/10/08) - Wisconsin's Attorney General is concerned about a proposed merger of the only two satellite radio companies providing the service in the United States. He is so concerned that he's stepping in to try to stop the merger of Sirius and XM. Citing concerns about anti-competitive and anti-consumer effects, Republican Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen has asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to utilize its role to carefully review the proposed license transfer between Sirius and XM now that the federal Justice Department Antitrust Division has chosen to look the other way.

In a letter to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, Attorney General Van Hollen asked the Commission to take into account the broad public interest of the proposed license transfer between XM and Sirius.

Van Hollen issued the letter to the FCC after the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it would not attempt to block the Sirius and XM merger, nor order divestitures, despite the fact that the merger would eliminate all competition in the satellite radio industry.

In September, 2007, Van Hollen wrote a letter to Thomas O. Barnett, the Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust for the United States Department of Justice to block the merger between XM and Sirius.

"The FCC's standard for reviewing a license transfer is broader than the United States Department of Justice's merger review, and I think that this transfer should raise several red flags for the FCC," Attorney General Van Hollen said.

"The Sirius-XM deal is anti-competitive and anti-consumer," Wisconsin's Attorney General said.