Second U.S. satellite radio operator appears set to enter Canadian market

Representatives from Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. are mum on potential plans by the U.S.-based company to enter the Canadian market after receiving a trademark for the term Canadian Satellite Radio. The satellite radio operator applied for the trademark two months ago and was granted the rights to the phrase on October 2 (RoW Update, Oct. 27/03). Ron Rodrigues, a representative from the company’s media relations department, wouldn’t provide any details surrounding the receipt of the trademark or potential plans for entering the Canadian market. "I’ll tell you one thing. Certainly with the kind of footprint our satellite signal has, which extends well beyond the U.S. borders - well into Canada and well into Mexico - it would be foolish for us not to explore how to maximize that footprint. But that’s about as far as I can take it as this point," Rodrigues tells Report on Wireless. When probed for information pertaining to a potential time frame for discussing Sirius’ plans surrounding the trademark, Rodrigues says the company doesn’t have a timetable. "We’ll definitely talk about it later," he adds. Should the company decide to make a play for the Canadian market, it will likely have to build out a terrestrial repeater network to enhance its satellite signals in urban regions of the country. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted in September 2001 both Sirius and rival XM Satellite Radio Inc. the right to build out a terrestrial repeater system on a temporary basis operating in the 2300 MHz band. The 2320-2345 MHz band has been allocated for satellite radio in the U.S. and Industry Canada has opted to leave the band open in case a similar operation was to be launched here. The FCC has also allowed mobile satellite service providers to build terrestrial networks to complement their satellite operations in urban areas. Industry Canada followed the FCC’s lead and granted Mobile Satellite Ventures LLP the right to build a terrestrial in-fill network (RoW, Feb. 18/03). Sirius could very well be the second foreign satellite radio operator that has plans for the Canadian market. Rival XM Satellite Radio and its Canadian partner John Bitove reportedly filed an application for a satellite radio licence with the CRTC earlier this year. Those plans have yet to be made public by the commission. But any plans that XM and Bitove might have could be slowed down or need to be altered because the name of their prospective venture, Canadian Satellite Radio Inc., is now under trademark protection held by Sirius. Both satellite radio operators have been experiencing good subscriber growth since launching their services. Sirius now counts approximately 150,000 subscribers. XM says that as of April 2003 it had about 500,000 subscribers.

Second U.S. satellite radio operator appears set to enter Canadian market

News | 11/05/2003 5:00 am EST

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