News outlets are reporting
on the "preliminary arrangement" reached between Sprint and radio
broadcasters to receive local FM stations on certain smartphones. As TRDaily reported on January 8:
The
announcement makes Sprint the first U.S. wireless carrier to offer its
customers the ability to access local FM radio on several of its devices.
Radio stations would be accessed through the NextRadio tuner application
or using other radio apps or services, the company said. The NextRadio
app tuner is expected to be made available later this year.
Of course, there are other
existing options for wireless consumers seeking access to radio broadcast
content. As pointed out in the New
York Times' Media Decoder blog:
Radio stations are already widely available on phones through
streaming apps like TuneIn and Clear Channel Communications’s iHeartRadio,
which offer not only local stations but also thousands from around the world.
Sprint's arrangement with
radio broadcasters should hopefully put to rest the occasional lobbying efforts
to require wireless carriers or handset manufacturers to install and activate
AM/FM radio chipsets in mobile devices.
I briefly addressed this subject in a September 2010 blog post and
explained why "Government Shouldn't Design Devices in Dynamic
Markets."
Free market bargaining – as
witnessed in Sprint's deal – and technological alternatives – including
streaming apps – render any wireless chipset device regulation completely
unjustifiable. (Don't forget that consumers can also buy radios if they want.)
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