ICO strikes a deal with Delphi
Thursday, April 17, 2008 at 2:13 PM
Tags: Delphi, ICO, Partnerships
ICO Global Communications has entered into a partnership with Delphi to develop DVB-SH devices for its "ICO mim" service.Under the agreement, ICO gets exclusive rights to all DVB-SH devices developed by Delphi for use in the mobile satellite services (MSS) spectrum band in North America over the next 3-years.
Delphi will design ICO's first aftermarket devices and units in are expected in December 2008. The alpha trials for the ICO mim service will start later this year in Raleigh-Durham, NC and Las Vegas, NV.
The partnership with Delphi will also serve as a shoe-in for OEMs as the company will co-market ICO's interactive mobile video, navigation and emergency communications services to automakers.
"ICO is poised to deliver a unique interactive suite of mobile services for American consumers, and Delphi's extensive experience in mobile electronics makes them an ideal partner as we implement ICO's go-to-market strategy," said Craig Jorgens, president of ICO.
(Pictured is an alpha device used to demo ICO mim at CES 2008, it is not a Delphi device.)
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Maybe this has been covered before, but what will prevent ICO from using their bandwidth to deliver radio. Their satellite operates at 2 GHz and they have about 20 MHz of bandwidth. A little less as XM+sirius (25 MHz)? Is there some technical or regulatory limitation?
Posted by: DougT | April 17, 2008 2:44 PM
While the FCC is "skillfully" sitting on their rumps, pondering all the complaints by terrad about the non-competitive aspects of a supposed monopolistic siri-xm, should they be allowed to merge, the rest of the tech world is busy making money, making deals, launching satellites and chipping away at the bottom line potential that the complainers say doesn't exist, i.e. COMPETITION. It's been a no-brainer that competition DOES exist and will continue to evolve. Whatever the FCC is trying to "sort out" at this time, their delay is beyond reasonable. I can only hope that they've given the two sat companies some sort of guidance on approval in some of those meetings and that Mel and crew are in the process of developing a marketing plan and other logistics to time with an FCC announcement. Like Tom Petty says, "the waiting is the hardest part..."
Posted by: Waiter | April 17, 2008 2:47 PM
My GOD....is the FCC TOTALLY asleep? Did they pass out sniffing glue in their enclosed meeting room? Is that the reason the merger hasn't been approved yet? It must be...because if ICO launching its own satelitte into orbit and busy making deals doesn't render all the anti merger's arguments MOOT...I don't know what does.
Not to mention all the other options out there.
This delay has gone beyond the point of ridiculous . This has become an OBVIOUS EFFORT by the NAB to harm and or destroy Sirius and XM. There is no hiding this. It is an obvious fact now. The FCC must be on the take. They are being paid off. There is no other explanation.
Mel's face must be beat red from holding back his anger. When this is all said and done, he will unleash holy hell upon the NAB and FCC.
Posted by: regan | April 17, 2008 2:56 PM
How much free capital does ICO have? Enough to buy out XM if things don't go well in their merger quest with Sirius? Is that why the FCC is stalling? Are they being lobbied to buy some time for certain companies who may be interested in scooping up XM at a bargain, just in time to avoid a possible XM bankruptcy? How long can the two companies wait to hold off on their marketing strategy? Every day that they are made to wait is costing them dearly in lost time and money. It's inexplicable.
Posted by: How long? How much? And when? | April 17, 2008 3:02 PM
It's appears to be very suspect that the FCC continues to stall and apparently continues to debate conditional aspects of a merged Sirius-XM when it's obvious that the ICO satellite launch and all the potential that goes with that, demonstrates an obviously competitive market and a fast-approaching array of possibilities for third parties. It's like debating that a Wal-Mart store would take away downtown business, while at the same time you're debating, a Super Target is being built a mile away.
Posted by: Go Figure | April 17, 2008 3:18 PM
@DougT To answer your question, nothing. Right now ICO is focusing on mobile video (they've struck a deal with NBC Universal, and yes, we were watching live MSNBC in the test car) as well as emergency services (OnStar) and navigational assistance (XM NavTraffic, Sirius Traffic).
Could ICO mim provide audio? Absolutely. Even if they don't, consider that even the audio part of the video feed can be considered "radio."
When you're listening to CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, etc on XM or Sirius - what are you really listening to? You're hearing the audio part of the video feed. Same thing.
Posted by: Ryan Saghir
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April 17, 2008 4:04 PM
As far as i see they have only one satellite. It is high power but still only one satellite.
Does this show something crooked about the FCC?
Is the FCC also demanding that the radios work with Sirius XM and lets not forget HD.
How about Georgtown are they also asking for a chunck of satellite and bandwith? If they do not i think they should be sued for discrimination
Posted by: Anonymous Coward | April 17, 2008 4:26 PM
One note for commenters to consider...The FCC is NOT responsible for determining the monopolistic, or anti-trust aspects of the merger. That was the job of the DoJ, and thy've already ruled (as you all know) in agreement with the points made above. The FCC is not considering what competition is out there, they're just trying to decide if they want to change a rule they made (and both Sirius and XM agreed to, right Stack?) or if they want to attach conditions to that rule change.
Am I wrong?
Posted by: RoadRunner | April 17, 2008 4:58 PM