FCC's Martin Feigns Consumer Advocacy in XM/Sirius Deal Who are you and what did you do with Kevin Martin? Wednesday Mar 07 2007 10:46 EDT FCC chief Kevin Martin, who has never seen a phone company proposal, merger or talking point he hasn't liked, is apparently showing some skepticism over the XM Sirius deal, reports the NY Times. Martin seems to be questioning executive claims that subscribers of the new combined service would pay the same rates, but receive additional content. Insiders claim Martin is "[skeptical] about both the deal and the way it was being sold in Washington as more beneficial to consumers than it might actually be." Is this the same Kevin Martin who showed not the slightest shred of skepticism over AT&T promises that the BellSouth merger would result in competitive utopia? The same Kevin Martin who shows absolutely no skepticism when it comes to the claims of the broadband over powerline industry? While skepticism for the benefit of consumers may be nice, it's drastically out of character for the FCC chief, signifying that something else is afoot. That something else is Kevin Martin's financial loyalty to NAB, who oppose the merger because the new company would fiercely compete with their traditional radio operations. So while consumers will once again get paid lip service in the run up to this merger, Martin is primarily concerned with financial loyalty to some massive companies (and post-FCC career advancement). |
intellerSociopaths always win. join:2003-12-08 Tulsa, OK
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Cliff notes:this is Martin's way of saying he hasn't recieved his pay (off) check from XM and Sirius yet. | | |
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