Sirius XM is seeking the right to raise subscription fees.
It filed a petition January 20 with the FCC asking the Commission no longer ban the satellite radio company from raising its fees, as of July.
The FCC originally blocked Sirius XM from hiking its rates for 3 years following the merger of Sirius and XM in 2008. It soon must determine whether to continue the ban beyond July of this year and that decision may rest on the level of competition seen in the radio market.
So last week, Sirius XM argued that competition is becoming intense. It said in its petition, Internet Radio services such as Pandora, Rhapsody, Slacker, Lastfm and iheartradio have grown in usage.
“This competition for audio entertainment is especially acute in vehicles, with several automakers introducing features integrating Internet-based services, further reducing any remaining arguable hurdles to the seamless use of smartphones, iPods and other portable audio devices in vehicles,” said the satellite radio company.
“In early January 2011, Toyota announced it would introduce ‘Entune’ in its vehicles, an integrated multimedia system designed to compete with Ford’s SYNC system and the products introduced by BMW and Mini,” it added.
The FCC is now reviewing the petition, reports Bloomberg.
