Phones should have FM radio again (as an emergency safety feature) - eviltoast

I didn’t even realize Qualcomm removed the built in FM radio from their chips. Huh.

  • tal@lemmy.today
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    1 year ago

    Not in the US.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_Radio

    A 400 kHz wide channel is required for HD FM analog-digital hybrid transmission, making its adoption problematic outside of North America. In the United States, FM channels are spaced 200 kHz apart as opposed to 100 kHz elsewhere. Furthermore, long-standing FCC licensing practice, dating from when receivers had poor adjacent-channel selectivity, assigns stations in geographically overlapping or adjacent coverage areas to channels separated by (at least) 400 kHz. Thus most stations can transmit carefully designed digital signals on their adjacent channels without interfering with other local stations, and usually without co-channel interference with distant stations on those channels.[7] Outside the U.S., the heavier spectral loading of the FM broadcast band makes IBoC systems like HD Radio less practical.

    The FCC has not indicated any intent to end analog radio broadcasting as it did with analog television,[2] since it would not result in the recovery of any radio spectrum rights which could be sold. Thus, there is no deadline by which consumers must buy an HD receiver.

    Maybe some other place.

    EDIT: Some countries in Europe apparently have, and some are scheduled to do so in the future.

    https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/switching-off-fm-in-norway-and-soon-switzerland

    This has Norway having killed FM in 2017, and Switzerland scheduled for 2024.