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FCC Chairman Wants It To Be Easier To Listen To Free FM Radio On Your Smartphone (recode.net)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Recode: Your smartphone has an FM radio in it, only it's unlikely that you're able to use it. That's because in the U.S., less than half of phones actually have the FM tuner turned on. But FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, who just recently assumed the top position at the regulatory agency under President Trump, thinks that should change. In remarks made to the North American Broadcasters Association yesterday, Pai said that it's a public safety issue. Both the former head of the Federal Emergency Management Association and an FCC advisory panel on public safety have advocated for turning on the FM radio capabilities in smartphones, since radio is a reliable source of information when internet or cellphone networks go down in severe weather. Although Pai thinks smartphones should have the FM chip turned on, he doesn't think the government should mandate it: "As a believer in free markets and the rule of law, I cannot support a government mandate requiring activation of these chips. I don't believe the FCC has the power to issue a mandate like that, and more generally I believe it's best to sort this issue out in the marketplace."
Carriers have little financial incentive to do so because they profit from streaming data, says Barry Rooke of the National Campus and Community Radio Association.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
No, this is the free market working as intended, putting the consumer at the mercy of the corporations with no government protection whatsoever.
The BS about the free market solving problems by allowing consumers to choose better solutions is a fairy tale told to pacify everyone in the hopes that they won't wake up and realize that corporations collude with each other to maximize their ability to extract profit from consumers by making sure they don't have choices available.
Let people download an app and make up their own minds about FM. This whole 'the marketplace has decided' bullshit is often just cover for 'We have our reasons. Go away and stop bothering us.'
There are some subtle differences between broadcast FM and streaming content revenue models and middlemen. I wouldn't be surprised if the streaming proponents just want to steer the ad bucks their way. Follow the money.
Have gnu, will travel.
You misunderstood shit.
The enabled FM chip could be insanely useful in case of a major catastrophe. You would be able to listen to information and instructions on the only device you're carrying with you at all times.
It's not about you using it more often, it's about it being there hen you need it most.
...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
Probably marked as "Funny" but in many regions AM radio is where you get new, traffic, weather so it would be more useful in times of emergency than FM.
Mimetics Inc. Twitter
Reverse 911 and SMS both require the cell network be functional. Receiving an FM signal does not. In addition, and FM signal can be sent from a single mobile transmitter, that can be picked up for a hundred miles or more, with no signal degradation based on how many people are listening, where cell networks have a finite (and comparatively small) maximum bandwidth available.
In the event of a natural disaster, FM is a far more reliable than any possible signal sent through the cell network. This is the entire premise of ham radio.
Did the lack of this feature affect your buying decision? If it's a part of the chipset that the phone vendor didn't implement because nobody wanted it, can you really be upset for not having it?
OTOH, Other markets really use this feature. If it's there and people want it, it will happen. This might be the first step.