Sirius XM asking for end of price freeze...

[Jay Peninger]

Interesting that Sirius-XM has lobbied to get the price freeze that was in place as a result of their merger lifted clearing the way for them to raise their rates although they say no price increase is currently in the works...

If you can't get new subscribers at $12.95 per month how on earth does a price increase make any sense at all?

So Scott how much is too much per month for your beloved satellite radio?

http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/86324/sirius-xm-asks-the-fcc-to-free-it-to-raise-subscri?ref=mail_recap

 

[xmusicmatt]

Rasing their rates will only drive more customers away.

 

[Bongwater]

I still say wi-fi is the new radio.......

 

[scott salvatori]

if XM/SR has 20 million+ subscribers, and they were able to raise the rates just one dollar a month, that would add 20 million dollars profit per month. the financial health of XM/SR is of vital importance. i pay 6 months in advance, and the rate is less than 12.95. XM/SR is of such vital importance to my nightly 150 mile route, i'd prob pay 5 times the current monthly rate.

XM/SR is by no means off my gripe list though: just mention that scum bag, howard stern and his multi million dollar SR contract, and you get my dander up! just mention how XM/SR cancelled a few good XM country channels during the merger(XM 10 AMERICA,XM12 CROSS COUNTRY) and i become agitated! just mention how the XM NASCAR channel was recontracted to SR, and the XM subscribers have to now pay a surcharge for the SR NASCAR package(no thanks) and i get p.o'd!

yes, Wi Fi radio is the greatest advancement in radio period. my CC WiFi radio gets 20,000 channels. yes, its an actual radio box that sits anywhere in your house, so you dont have to sit in front of, or crank up your computer loud. thanks to it, i could hear michael savage, and rusty humphrie via wire this afternoon, and not have to listen to the FM airwave ronandons, while i worked the boring paper work for the business.

 

[AQH]

Rasing their rates will only drive more customers away.

I don't think a dollar a month will really make much of a difference. Sirius/XM needs to continue selling a difference between it and terrestrial radio.

I still say wi-fi is the new radio.......

About a year ago I would have agreed with you, but the caps on the "unlimited" data plans are coming in fast and furious. Continuous connectivity issues while mobile would sprout up as well.

 

[Jay Peninger]

Rasing their rates will only drive more customers away.

I don't think a dollar a month will really make much of a difference. Sirius/XM needs to continue selling a difference between it and terrestrial radio.

I still say wi-fi is the new radio.......

About a year ago I would have agreed with you, but the caps on the "unlimited" data plans are coming in fast and furious. Continuous connectivity issues while mobile would sprout up as well.

Cell phones used to be the size of my laptop case too back in the day and staying connected meant pulling the car over and making your call while hoping you didn't get dropped or in many cases just hoping there was a signal or your phone was not in roaming mode...

Technology advances as we move forward and whatever issues that accompany Wi-Max networks today you can almost bet won't be an issue down the road.

Bandwidth is cheaper than it has ever been and while Cellular providers are trying to eliminate their unlimited data plans companies that deal in bandwidth are creating faster and better unlimited packages on a regular basis.

I just did a demo of a VoIP Smart Phone that is basically the same as it's cellular cousins accept for $19.95 a month I can make calls with it from anyplace there is Wi-Fi or Wi-Max connectivity and it worked very slick indeed....

 

[AQH]

Cell phones used to be the size of my laptop case too back in the day and staying connected meant pulling the car over and making your call while hoping you didn't get dropped or in many cases just hoping there was a signal or your phone was not in roaming mode...

Technology advances as we move forward and whatever issues that accompany Wi-Max networks today you can almost bet won't be an issue down the road.

Bandwidth is cheaper than it has ever been and while Cellular providers are trying to eliminate their unlimited data plans companies that deal in bandwidth are creating faster and better unlimited packages on a regular basis.

I just did a demo of a VoIP Smart Phone that is basically the same as it's cellular cousins accept for $19.95 a month I can make calls with it from anyplace there is Wi-Fi or Wi-Max connectivity and it worked very slick indeed....

All valid points, but you have to remember some key items. Whether on Wi-Max or standard data connections on smartphones, when you are driving you flip from tower site to tower site often. I am not an expert on cell phone or Wi-Max stuff, but I do know enough that when you drive and have a connection, you switch from tower to tower frequently. Usually, the hand-offs and handshakes to other towers are seamless, but there are times when they are not.

A complete guess here, but I would imagine that if you're doing an average daily commute from, say, Issaquah into downtown Seattle, you would be going through about five or six different towers. Come in from the south end, like Federal Way, there's likely even more towers to work with, given the more hilly terrain. Regardless of where you're coming from, not every transfer is going to be smooth.

In addition, as mentioned in a previous post, AT&T, Verizon, T-Mo, Sprint -- they are getting smarter too and putting caps on those "unlimited" data plans. If people here think that $13 a month for XM/Sirius is "expensive," wait until the data overage charges for streaming audio hit consumers.

 

[SRP]

The discussion about wireless broadband was beat to death in this thread:

http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=183087.0

Here's the Cliff Notes summary: Carriers will NOT give "all you can eat" wireless broadband for $13 a month, net alone $30 or $50 a month. Not today, not tomorrow, not in 5 years. That fact alone severely impacts the penetration of in-car internet radio (built in, not via tethering/Bluetooth/aux input).