Why Aren’t We Listening to Free FM Radio on Our Phones?

Once, we were walking down a street in the Big Apple and saw something we hadn’t seen in years. It was a man with a transistor radio to his ear, bobbing along with whatever he was listening to. This was before the personal device took hold in pedestrian traffic. Still, it was an odd sight in a world of Walkmans. It made us realize how long it had been since we’d seen someone get on a subway with one of those obnoxious boom boxes.

Today, we’re all using our smartphones to listen to the radio. The curious thing is we use some sort of app or pay for a service when many phones are engineered with a chip for FM tuning. That means we shouldn’t need a third-party solution for enjoying the antics of the Morning Zoo.

It would seem the FM tuner in your phone is switched off. This despite the fact that the tuner could save lives. A rep at the the Federal Emergency Management Agency says, “We know that if Internet networks or cell phone networks go down, FM still works so long as you have a battery to turn the device on.”

Public safety officials and broadcasters both argue the FM chip in phones be universally activated. Most wireless carriers and handset manufacturers have been resistant. There are some voices in the wireless industry that have acquiesced, but there’s no real push for it. Anyone that wants a phone with access to FM radio can find one, but they’re definitely going to have to do some searching.

According to a rep at the National Campus and Community Radio Association, the industry has no financial incentive to activate our FM chips, especially when there is so much money to profit from streaming, downloading and buying music. Congress itself has considered stepping in. The FCC has contemplated making activation of the FM feature a requirement. But these parties are reluctant to leap into the waters, hoping the industry resolves the issue without a push.

Broadcasters who want the chip activated aren’t interested in government involvement. National Public Radio has long advocated for carriers to let consumers tune in on their phones, but “Mandating or requiring FM chip activation as some sort of public policy imperative is probably not the way to go.” Resistance to any government regulating of broadcast proceedings, many in the industry would rather pressure from the public convince manufacturers and carriers to change their minds.

The vast majority of new cells have FM access baked into them through the Qualcomm LTE modem. Smartphone tuning is a common practice in other parts of the world. That simplifies the process of swapping out the chip for different modems in varying markets. Ultimately, manufacturers can activate the chip at the source, but rather than step on the toes of carriers, manufacturers leave the decision up to the likes of AT&T and Sprint.

While some carriers are considering the change, the Big Boy – Apple – remains a staunch holdout. It is believed the biggest technology company in the world is perturbed about initiating any operations that could potentially undermine Apple Music, Beats One and other streaming platforms. So, free radio is being compromised by big business’s concern for the bottom line.

Some parties argue the American market actually prefers their third-party resources, even the ones they pay for. Vice president of government affairs for CTIA-The Wireless Association, Jot Carpenter, believes “What Americans really want is the ability to stream, download and customize music playlists to meet their personal preferences and that’s not what the traditional FM radio offers.”