Think Tanks Speak Out About Sirius-XM Merger
As the fight over the proposed merger of satellite radio rivals Sirius and XM heated up with new filings from supporters and opponents this week [read Technology Daily's coverage], think tanks also got in on the action.
The Competitive Enterprise Institute, the Progress and Freedom Foundation and The Free State Foundation all weighed in by sending comments to the FCC about the estimated $13 billion pairing.
CEI said stakeholders "ought not petition the FCC to tighten its regulatory grip, but rather phase out that agency’s involvement in price, entry and ownership regulation in frontier technologies altogether."
According to the group, antitrust activism will "hobble tomorrow's technology and communications sectors, painting a bulls-eye on the back of competitors that rise above the fray or engage in large-scale transactions."
"Competition, properly understood, has little to do with the number of competitors and industry concentration ratios that bewitch government commissions," CEI said. It is better understood as "an extension of the same 'voluntarism' that characterizes a free society that enshrines property and the right of contract."
In his filing, PFF's Scott Wallsten said "a merger analysis of competing platforms that considers only a single component in this complex market is likely to reach an incorrect conclusion." Officials should consider "not only subscribers, but also content providers, competing platforms, platforms that are potential competitors, and services the platforms in question may provide in the future that they do not today."
FSF President Randolph May told the commission that "in today’s dynamic, fast-changing digital communications environment, it is especially important that the Commission not take an unduly narrow view of what constitutes a relevant market for the purpose of assessing competitive impacts."
According to May, "absent strong and reliable indications that a merger will harm consumers, if the FCC does take such an unduly narrow view under the rubric of its vague public interest authority, it is likely to stifle investment in new communications networks and innovation in new services and applications." In that event, “consumers will be the ultimate losers."
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