Verizon why is it so hard to turn on my phone's FM receiver? Is there anyone else wanting this turned on? That would help us on the gulf coast. Im in law enforcement and I have to stay during hurricanes. Please unlock our FM Receiver Thanks!!!
Like I told you. Why should Verizon pay for it? Manufacturers CHARGE for it. Sprint pays for it simply because... FCC doesn't force them to pay for additionall spectrum for their device. Block C forces Verizon to pay licensing fees for additional spectrum. Since people don't want to pay extra for devices made for a Verizon they do not pay for certain things simply because YOU won't pay for them. Verizon did an experiment with the top selling device. They paid for every option and their device was $50 more than their competitors. People cried and their sales numbers were down. Some people actually switched because of the price increase. Since then Verizon keeps their prices to match their competitors.
I used to work for Qualcomm which the radios you speak of are inside these phones. What all these articles don't tell you... That's ONE PART of the equation. There's other hardware needed and software. There's already multiple instances where not all the hardware is present and people have turned on the radio. Nothing happens, and then people take apart phones and find different configurations and ultimately different parts numbers.
I am actually more in touch with technology than you think I am. I have probably been through more disasters than you have been as well. We'll doesn't matter anyhow. You need to bring this to the FCC and get them to stop charging for licensing fees and convince manufacturers to make it a standard features instead of charging for it. That's when you will see them be turned on. See Europe and Asia for details.
This is not simply a matter of unlocking. There are many threads here based on FM Radio questions...all lead to the same outcome. The best idea? Get a battery-operated or hand-crank FM radio so that you do not have to rely on a phone and its battery-depletion issues during an emergency.
Search the community with only "FM Radio" as the search string.
You may not know it but most of today's smartphones have FM radios inside of them. But the FM chip is not activated on two-thirds of devices. That's because mobile makers have the FM capability switched off.
The National Association of Broadcasters has been asking mobile makers to change this. But the mobile industry, which profits from selling data to smartphone users, says that with the consumer's move toward mobile streaming apps, the demand for radio simply isn't there.
Full disclosure: NPR, along with the NAB, has been part of a lobbying effort to require this free radio feature to be enabled. In 2013 they teamed up to create a free app that allows for free FM listening on smartphones.
NPR's Robert Siegel spoke with Jeff Smulyan, the point man on this issue for the NAB.
Boubacar Sanogo from Mali drives a cab in New York City and listens to ZenoRadio on his smartphone — though it can also be accessed using a more basic model.
ALL TECH CONSIDERED
Cellphones As Radios: Immigrants Dial In To Native Stations
Google is doing test flights of its balloons carrying Internet routers around the world. Last June, a balloon was released at the airport in Teresina, Brazil.
Bringing Internet To The Far Corners Of The Earth
People using smartphones.
Pew: 'Smartphone-Dependents' Often Have No Backup Plan For Web Access
Smulyan is CEO of Emmis Communications, an Indiana-based corporation that owns radio stations across the U.S.
Most smartphone models come with a built-in FM feature. Samsung, Apple and LG are among those who have not switched on the chip, but HTC and Motorola chips haven't been blocked, Smulyan says. Sprint has turned on the FM chip for phones on its network.
The smartphone has fueled a change in media consumption habits and it's a growing challenge to radio as the go-to audio source for news. To get local broadcasts, Americans increasingly download podcasts or stream from news apps where they can skip or pause our segments. As popular as this form of consumption is, these apps all suck up costly data.
Aside from the huge benefit he sees for the radio industry, Smulyan says users could avoid expensive data charges and save battery life if they listen to the FM chip for free.
"Listening to streaming drains your battery three to five times faster than listening to the exact same content on the FM chip," he says.
It's a critical resource in an emergency, he argues, when there is no Internet or cell system.
"When the power grid is out, the only lifeline for the American public is having an FM tuner," he says.
He adds that it's a question of giving the public a choice. "Every time you buy a phone, you've paid for that radio," Smulyan says.
Smulyan's lobbying has prompted the Indiana Senate to urge mobile carriers to activate the FM chip.
FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate has also argued that radio is critical in a crisis. "As more and more people use their smartphones as streaming devices to get news, get radio, get a lot of things like that over their networks, I don't think people realize how vulnerable they get," he says in a video for FreeRadioOnMyPhone.org, a collection of radio organizations that includes NPR.
He points to Superstorm Sandy and the North American derecho storm, both in 2012, in which the carrier overload blocked many users from getting any information via cellular devices.
But Jot Carpenter, vice president of government affairs for CTIA-The Wireless Association, resists the move to turn on the FM chip.
At a NAB convention in Las Vegas this week, Carpenter said there would have to be demand by smartphone consumers for mobile carriers to consider switching on the FM chip.
"What Americans really want is the ability to stream, download and customize music playlists to meet their personal preferences," Carpenter said, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, "and that's not what the traditional FM radio offers."
I will not let you all who is trying to put water on the fire!! Dont let these guys tell you that your phone does not have FM or so on and so on. People come on here for damage control or work on being number one on the active list.
Thank you for Reading dont give up on wanting free radio!!
It's already been explained. Manufacturers CHATGE to turn the features on and use different logic boards for said features. There's data pointing this out... people have tested and tried this an surplus parts you will see multiple logic boards some with the radio and associated hardware included. It's more than just the radio that is needed to make it work. Also said devices need to pass FCC testing which a lot of these devices you want carriers to turn on have not passed or even tested.
All these guys are going the wrong way about it. Want FM on your devices? Get manufacturers to make it standard. At that point carriers can't have it removed. Then make it wear the FCC won't charge for licensing on FM radio testing.
Using it as a lifeline is also the weakest argument. Cost for it is too high and how fragile phones can be it's the worst thing to rely on. There's so many better alternatives and the amount of FM radios per square mile in places like Tornado alley makes it even more so. People need to start relying on their phones less.
Yes i agree with not all ways relying on cellphone Buuuuutt!!!!! We all carry cellphones and not a boom box or small radio with us. We that work for law enforcement or evacuating from a disaster carry phones and rely on phones. And there is no argument about cost!!! That is a joke and you know this so stop trying to convince people about cost.
What did you do before the popularity of cell phones?
I already explained this before in another thread. In places that are high potential of disasters there are always thousands of FM radios. The phone itself especially the battery has better uses than it being used as a FM radio. I have lived in Tornado alley for a long time and been in close proximity of actual tornados. I have also was on Kuai when Hurricane Iniki hit. I had no trouble finding a radio. Also the battery made a perfect fire starter. Of course this was a time with basic phones.
a basic $20 hand crank radio in your squad car does wonders. When I live in Tornado Alley every LEO had one or two. Also almost everyone and ever business had a few in various places. They are and they are more durable than cell phones.
I would rather have a hand crank FM radio with a flashlight. In the event of a disaster and if the electricity was out, I would want my cell phone battery to be conserved if I needed to make a call. That's providing the network doesn't go down. We were lucky during Hurricane Sandy when the network was up. However, there is always the possibility that the it will go down. Even still. What happens if the FM radio station is unable to transmit. Then NO radio will be useful. Has anyone never seen The Walking Dead?
