In a meeting held with FCC commissioner Tate, Ibiquity outlined fears that the open access condition proposed in the merger between Sirius and XM would not ensure that HD radio chipsets get installed into receivers capable of receiving SDARS signals.

It is ironic that open access is heralded as a concept that is pro consumer, and a concept that gives consumers a better chance of getting what they want at a reasonable price. How then can something such as open access leave HD radio behind?

Perhaps HD radio is seeing what Pioneer sees. Pioneer has made staunch statements against a requirement to being forced to include HD into SDARS receivers. We noted the push back by Pioneer in or article “Pioneer Says No Thanks To HD Radio”

I have said it before, and I will say it again. HD Radio has a responsibility to market itself. They should not be out looking for business model hand-outs. They should not be trying to circumvent negotiations with OEM’s by getting into car dashboards on the backs of the negotiations that Sirius and XM have made, and by extension, on the backs of shareholders in the SDARS companies. Shareholders in Sirius and XM have suffered years of no profits to get the concept of SDARS to the point where it is now. The Ibiquity proposal, should it be accepted would allow HD Radio to waltz into existence without having to blaze a trail in the manner that Sirius and XM have.

The open access standard would take the manufacturing requirement away from Sirius and XM. It would allow any manufacturer to develop any type of radio they wanted. If U.S. electronics had a desire to make an HD radio that also received SDARS, they could do so.

This appears to be yet another attempt to grab the proverbial brass ring on the efforts of others, and an attempt to avoid negotiations with the Pioneers and U.S. Electronics of the world. It is time that Ibiquity stepped up to the plate themselves. It is time that they market their services. It is time that they tried to run their own business rather than trying to piggyback on the business of others.

Getting a service up and running is hard, but you need to put forth a bit of your own effort.

Position - Long Sirius, Long XM