NAB President/CEO David Rehr has sent a letter to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin to once again state his case against the merger of XM and Sirius, which was officially filed this week. Rehr repeated his points against the merger, again noting that "it violates the antitrust laws and established FCC rules and policies requiring that such transactions serve the public interest, convenience and necessity." He added that if the merger goes through, it will "create a government-sanctioned monopoly."

Rehr called Mel Karmazin's declaration that prices would not be raised on subscribers a "hollow promise" and "not a consumer benefit." He continued, "Any price concessions offered by the merger parties will clearly be temporary in nature, unlike their monopoly power, which inevitably will lead to price increases in the future."

He also once again discussed the satcasters' history with FCC regulations, saying XM and Sirius "have a long track record of failing to follow FCC requirements [which] casts grave doubts on whether the government could rely on any such promise."

Rehr concluded by once again urging Martin and the rest of the Commission to reject the merger. He also said that the NAB intends to submit a Petition to Deny the merger.