From: Jim Bauer |
ATTN: Nancy M. Morris Secretary, Securities and Exchange Commission The following are comments from ARRIS Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARRS) on the proposed increase in NASDAQ annual listing fees and the inclusion of certain newswire and webcasting services from NASDAQ whether our company uses those services or not. Specifically, we have two concerns. First, that in past years NASDAQ has arbitrarily raised their listing fees and appears to have no incentive to reduce their costs like the companies listed on NASDAQ. Second, that their recent acquisition of PrimeZone, a press release company, allows NASDAQ to now bundle this service and other services into their annual listing fees. This bundling of services will not allow NASDAQ listed companies to choose between competing service providers and could cause our company to pay double for press release and webcasting services if do not wish change from our current service providers. The new bundled NASDAQ fee structure inhibits competition and places undue pressure on NASDAQ listed companies to use NASDAQ services instead of having free choice in the marketplace of services. It appears that NASDAQ is taking unfair advantage of NASDAQ listed companies to make their recent acquisition of PrimeZone appear successful. Therefore, we object strongly to the proposed NASDAQ listing fee increases and the bundled service structure proposed for implementation in 2007. If you wish to discuss this further, please feel free to contact me directly. |