Most people think of radio as an old-fashioned form of listening music. But, it is still one of the more effective approaches to deliver information to people, especially when cell networks go down. Various smart-phones have an FM chip mounted right into the chipset, but most of them are inaccessible, specifically in the United States. Now, the FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has asked Apple to activate these FM radio chips already mounted in iPhones. Pai said in a statement that Apple has been considered a major phone manufacturer that avoided activating FM chips. He added that he is hopeful the company will seriously reconsider his position. He pointed out the confusion produced by Harvey, Irma, and Maria Hurricanes. It is not a new push by Pai in getting FM enabled in smart-phones.
Pai added that he repeatedly called on the wireless industry in the recent years to activate the FM chips already mounted in smart-phones sold in the U.S. He also pointed out the public safety benefits of FM chips. Various companies including LG, Motorola, and Samsung are among other phone manufacturers who allowed for FM access on their smart-phones. Most of them are on the list of supported devices provided by Next-Radio. It is a smart-phone app that provides FM broadcasts to smart-phones. The AT&T already asks Android phone manufacturers to enable the FM systems. Pai said that he is thankful to those companies who have activated the FM chips in their smart-phones. The exec of Apple Phil Schiller responded the request of Pai and said that its most recent models don’t have FM capability.