Key senator urges rejection of XM-Sirius deal

The chairman of the U.S. Senate's antitrust subcommittee on Wednesday urged regulators to block Sirius Satellite Radio's proposed acquisition of XM Satellite Radio Holdings.

Democratic Sen. Herb Kohl of Wisconsin said he had sent a letter to the Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission calling on them to oppose the deal on grounds that it would cause "substantial harm to competition and consumers."

"Such a result should be unacceptable under antitrust law and as a matter of communication policy," Kohl wrote to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and the Justice Department's antitrust chief, Thomas Barnett.

Sirius plans to buy XM in an all-stock deal worth about $4 billion. The deal would combine the only two providers of satellite radio service in the United States and has sparked concerns among some U.S. lawmakers and consumer groups.

The deal is currently being reviewed by both the Justice Department and the FCC, which issued both satellite radio licenses in 1997 on the condition that the two companies would never merge.

Although they can exert political influence over the agencies generally, lawmakers have no direct input into the decisions about individual merger reviews.