[HoustonHam] So much for competition and our Republican run FCC...

[Chris Boone]

Finally - FCC is ready to approve the XM/Sirius deal

Chairman Kevin Martin tells the Wall Street Journal they've got "an
agreement in principle" - and the companies just issued a press release on
the outlines of a consent decree. XM would pay about $17 million and Sirius
another $2 million, and they'd both deal with "variant terrestrial
repeaters" and non-compliant radios still owned by consumers. The crucial
vote - Deborah Taylor Tate - has been hanging since yesterday, but Tate will
vote "yes" after winning the concessions she wants. Martin admits "we're
still trying to work out the language" of the settlement - which appears to
exact tougher conditions from XM than from Sirius.