Sirius: Our Employees Told Manufacturers to Build Non-FCC-Compliant Products

The satellite radio companies continue to have problems with certain FM modulated products.
In SEC filings this week, both Sirius and XM reveal what’s working, what’s not and what still needs to be done to ensure certain products do not exceed allowable Part 15 emission limits and bandwidth occupancy requirements.
In an internal review, Sirius says it discovered “certain Sirius personnel requested manufacturers to produce Sirius radios that were not consistent with the FCC’s rules.”
As a result, the company says it’s taking “significant steps” to ensure this problem does not recur, including the adoption of a comprehensive compliance plan, approved by the Sirius board, to ensure that future products comply with FCC rules.
The satcaster said two of its manufacturers received letters from the commission inquiring about emissions and frequency compliance and Sirius itself received such a letter in June. It has “taken a series of actions to evaluate, mitigate and correct” the problems with the specific FM modulated products, it states in the filing.
“We directed manufacturers of Sirius radios with FM transmitters to suspend manufacture and shipment to retailers of non-compliant devices and to make the necessary changes in production to bring the radios into compliance.”
The commission’s review of Sirius products continues and the company believes products in production now comply with the agency rules.
Sirius and its manufacturers are cooperating with the FCC to obtain new equipment authorizations for remaining affected products. However, some changes are afoot in the agency’s testing methods, Sirius says.
“We understand that the FCC’s testing laboratory is reviewing the methodology under which it tests FM transmitters. If the FCC were to change its test parameters, our new products may be found to be non-compliant, requiring us to make further changes in our products and possibly delaying the availability of these products to consumers.”