The FCC has approved the merger of the two Satellite vendors.

"Other conditions are similar to promises made by Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin last year.

They include a three-year freeze on prices and packages that include programs from both services, including a so-called “a la carte” offering that would be available within three months of the close of the deal.

Karmazin has pledged that the combined company will offer pricing plans ranging from $6.99 per month for 50 channels offered by one service, up to $16.99 a month, where subscribers would keep their existing service plus choose channels offered by the other service.

Karmazin also said he will allow customers to choose and pay for only the channels they want. The “a la carte” option will require new radios, the companies have said.

In addition, the companies have pledged to offer radios that are capable of receiving both services within one year."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25186831/

 

Yes, I read this article this morning as well. Hopefully the cost savings WILL be passed on to the consumer. I still don't like the idea of having one entity controlling the satellite radio world. Time will tell.

 

The argument made to the FCC was that satellite radio competition was essentially other similar but non-space based services like terrestrial radio. I think that is applicable for customers in some markets (especially metro ones) that have other programming options available to them, but it may not be as applicable for rural users, since their terrestrial radio options are much more limited. They also argued that MP3 players were their competition, but that seems like a bit of a reach to me. Using that argument, the recording industry (via CDs you play in your car) is a competitor to XM and Sirius, which doesn't pass the sanity check.