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."

Comments

FCC can't help ...

[Obfuscant]

My smartphone has an FM radio app in it (as have all my previous ones), but I am unlikely to use it.

It requires the use of wired earphones because the wire acts as the FM radio antenna. The FCC cannot change that.

Re:FCC can't help ...

[taustin]

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.

Re:FCC can't help ...

[blindseer]

Even if I could listen to FM radio, why would I? Honestly, I don't even use the radio in my car anymore. It's been ten years or more since I listened to the radio.

I've started to ask myself the same thing but perhaps for a different reason than you. I had a couple radios die on me recently which made me think about my listening habits as I shopped for replacements.

When I listen to the radio it's usually for news, weather, and traffic. These things I normally find on AM. There's a couple AM new/talk stations I flip between, one of which simulcasts on FM which is sometimes clearer than the AM cast. When there is bad weather I'll listen to the NOAA weather band broadcasts, the local storm watchers that chat on the amateur radio band, or the same news/talk stations I'd listen to normally. There is a local traffic station that broadcasts on low power AM, which is nice if I see traffic moving slow or the road condition is bad.

It's rare for me to listen to music on the radio, I have a large collection of music on my iPod (which is normally left hooked up to the stereo in my truck) and iPhone, and I can stream music over the internet from my iPhone or computer. Trying to listen to music on FM is typically quite annoying with the advertisements that are often louder than the typical music, which is a turn off. As in, I'll turn off the radio than listen to that crap. The point of listening to music is to gain enjoyment, which is destroyed with blaring adverts and/or blithering idiots for DJs.

I do listen to radio broadcasts, just not typically those on the FM band.

Re:FCC can't help ...

[pegr]

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.

AMaphobia much?

[s.petry]

Hey, I like my AM stations better! Down with the FM bigots!

Re:AMaphobia much?

[mykepredko]

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.

Why are less than half activated in the US?

[rmdingler]

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.

Re:So how is this any different than before?

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

Partial list of FM-enabled Android phones/carriers

[by (1706743)]

http://nextradioapp.com/suppor...

Re:Misguided priorities for sure

[war4peace]

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.

Re:So how is this any different than before?

[hey!]

Well, "free market" used this way is a glittering generality. Most people who use it aren't referring to the technical economic sense in which individual consumers and producers make consumption, production and pricing decisions autonomously. What they typically mean would be better described something in the direction of anarcho-capitalism, although many are somewhat selective in their application of that philosophy (e.g. they aren't for the free market determining the number of abortions performed, birth control pills dispensed, or marijuana grown).

FM Radio in Europe

[DrYak]

Honestly, I don't even use the radio in my car anymore. It's been ten years or more since I listened to the radio.

On the other side of the atlantic pond, radio in cars tends to be used a lot, specially for traffic information.
Last time I listened to the car's radio has been lat time I drove it :
the car automatically suspended the music we were listening to announce some traffic jams and incident on the highway.
Most GPS (specially the in-car built-ins) are also able to leverage the digital information (TMC signal on the RDS on FM radios) to also display and take into account such traffic information.

So radio on portable devices can be useful for such traffic informations.

The only thing is, as far as I know, most smartphone with disabled radio chips only have *FM*-Radio (i.e.: plain old analog. Sometimes not even with support for digital metadata over RDS).
Whereas lots of European regions are moving to DAB/DAB+ Radio (digital radio, transmitted as MP2 or AAC digital stream respectively), which is not directly supported on purely FM chips, and would be quite taxing on the battery life if attempting to decode on CPU in software (SDR - software defined radio).

Re:FM = clear channel

[citylivin]

Not really. Find your local college radio station. They usually have diverse and interesting programming. I find most of my new music now adays from eclectic DJs on small university transmitters. And there are never any commercials on CBC radio. So you have options for sure.