Activate the FM radio chip!

[ebinrock]

Verizon Wireless,

Please activate all FM radio chips in any and all smartphones that have them.  It is a travesty that you have disabled this feature, especially when it's a public safety issue.  During emergencies, data networks tend to fail before traditional radio waves.  Not only this, but when data plans are limited, members of the public should not have to pay extra (in data overages) if they need to stay tuned for however many hours to important local information during an emergency - especially when local radio is already available for free.  This is data gouging at an all-time low.

Aside from the emergency/public safety issue of receiving local radio for free, there is the pure and simple moral issue of a carrier denying a customer a physical feature that they paid for in the cost of their smartphone.  My HTC One (M8) phone, for example, lists an FM radio feature on its website (HTC One (M8) - Listening to FM Radio - APPS & FEATURES - How-tos - Support | HTC United States), yet on the Verizon edition, this feature is not available.

I am forwarding this message to my congressman and the FCC, both of whom I believe support legislation to prohibit carriers like yourself from disabling this feature in smartphones.  FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate thinks it is vital for smartphones to have traditional FM radio capability, because during emergencies, the demand for streaming radio stations for essential information rises to the point of overloading the system.

Please consider re-activating the FM radios in smartphones, Verizon!  Anyone reading this who agrees with my comments, please bump!  And visit freeradioonmyphone.org.

[Tidbits]

There's already other threads and your filings will fall on deaf ears like all the others. There's specific reasons why and I pointed them out.

If you are willing to pay more for your phone whether on or off contract for a FM tuner will you be willing to pay for it?  Majority of the population will say no and cell phone figures backs that up. There's more involved that enabling it.

[Tidbits]

FYI FM turner manufacturers charges for having it enabled or disabled. If Verizon decides not to pay for it then they did not enable it. Something to think about. That would fall on the manufacturer not the carrier for giving such options.

[thebluesdoctor]

You have a HTC One  M8. Go to the Google Play Store and download Nextradio. You will have fm radio on your M8!

[B33]

Looks to be a few Available Radio Apps.. Via the Link below.. might be worth the Look and Download.. but if the App has several adds it might be good thing to Ta pay a few buck and get the App ad free..

next radio - Android Apps on Google Play

[SJDinAudubon]

Lots of Misinformation in the other replies.  The chip is ALREADY in most of the phones VZW sells. And NO, there is no fee to activate them - it only requires a software update from VZW.  And those other "services" ALL USE DATA!  So why even post a dumb reply like that when you don't understand the issue?

Verizon Wireless should join Sprint and activate the FM chip already in phones - it will result in less data usage on thier overcrowded network.

[RushFan2112]

From the folks that love to hack all of these phones, they say the FM radios are physically disabled.  Otherwise, we'd see them activating these FM radios in their replacement ROMs.

[Tidbits]

You are feeding the propaganda yourself. Yes it is in the snapdragon chips but that doesn't mean they are always enabled and that there are no licensing fees to enable it or disable it.

[Tidbits]

Also as rush mentioned the come may not always be connected, and for a manufacturer to enable it there is a cost. There is a more extensive post I had in a few of these threads. There is more to it than simply "flipping" a switch.

[tombinvt]

When will the fm chip in my G4 be released or activated to pick up fm radio over the air?