XM Satellite Radio and WCS Wireless have announced the termination of their agreement for XM to acquire WCS Wireless.
At the time of the acquisition agreement between XM and WCS Wireless, announced about a year ago, the two companies had expected to close their transaction by this time. But despite both XM's and WCS' efforts to obtain government approval, it has not been forthcoming to date. The NAB strongly opposed the XM/WCS deal, and worked very hard to block federal approval.
As a result, XM and WCS Wireless have agreed to terminate the acquisition agreement in order to free WCS Wireless to pursue other alternatives for its spectrum licenses.
In commenting on the termination, Gary Parsons, Chairman of XM, stated, "With the inability to obtain the necessary government approval for this transaction in a timely manner, WCS Wireless needed to pursue alternatives for its spectrum with greater certainty of regulatory approval."
It was widely speculated that the acquisition of WCS Wireless would provide XM the bandwidth to broadcast additional satellite radio services such as video, giving way for devices like the XM Satellite Video Player. Whether or not this halts the satellite video project altogether is unknown, but XM did indicate that they would be able to provide these additional satellite services even if the WCS acquisition didn't go through.
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