Washington - The House Judiciary Committee said that its newly formed Antitrust Task Force will hold a hearing next week to debate the proposed merger of XM Satellite Radio and rival Sirius.

The hearing, scheduled for Wednesday, will include testimony from Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin.

"We are holding this hearing to allow members to probe whether this merger will enhance or diminish competition in the digital music distribution industry," said John Conyers, chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

Ranking member Lamar Smith said that the interests of customers should remain a priority.

"This hearing will help determine whether customers will get higher or lower prices and more or fewer programming options with the proposed merger," he said.

In particular, Conyers said that the committee will examine whether satellite radio competes against terrestrial radio, the Internet or any other emerging technologies.

The $13 billion merger requires approval from both the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Justice Department.

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