FCC Seeks Sirius-XM Merger Condition Input

In approving the transfer of control of licenses and authorizations held by Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio, the Federal Communications Commission accepted the applicants' voluntary commitment to enter into long-term leases or other agreements to provide a Qualified Entity or Entities with rights to four percent of the full-time audio channels on the Sirius platform and four percent of the full-time channels on the XM platform. The applicants committed to entering into these third-party leases within four months of the consummation of the merger. In order to establish procedures for implementing the Third-Party Access Commitment, the FCC now seeks comment on a range of implementation issues, including the definition of a Qualified Entity or Entities, the process for establishing eligibility, the technical and financial qualifications of lessees, the criteria for selecting among competing applicants where demand exceeds supply, the technical aspects of allocating capacity to lessees, the duration of the "long-term" lease, as well as other terms and conditions of service. The FCC also invites interested parties to comment on whether there should be a single lessee or multiple lessees and, if more than one, how much capacity should be allocated to any single lessee. In addition, we note that the Applicants indicated that the merged entity, Sirius XM, "is willing not to be involved in the selection" of the lessees. The FCC seeks comment on whether Sirius XM should select or be involved in the selection of the lessees and how the involvement of Sirius XM in the selection process would enhance overall the spectrum leasing arrangements. If Sirius XM should not select or be involved in the selection of the lessees, the FCC invites comment on who should make the selection, such as an independent trustee.