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XM's business model is to provide pay-for-service radio, with commercial-free music channels, analogous to the business model for premium cable television channels. They also provide other data services such as weather information for pilots and weather spotters. They also transmit coded traffic information directly to navigation systems using TMC technology. As of January 2003, revenues have been lower than expected, and the company has needed to refinance. Their service includes 68 different music channels, 33 news, sports, talk and entertainment channels, and 21 regional traffic and weather channels. The XM signal uses 12.5 MHz of the S band: 2332.5 to 2345.0 MHz.
XM's competitor in the U.S. is Sirius Satellite Radio.
On August 11, 2004, XM's subscriber base broke the 2.5 million mark. XM-capable receivers cost $50–200. Monthly service fees are $10 for the first receiver, and $7 each for up to four additional receivers on the same account. The company has partnered with Acura, Audi, General Motors, Honda, Isuzu, Nissan, Toyota, VolkswagenVolkswagen VW is an automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Germany. It forms the core of VAG, one of the world's four biggest car producers. Origins in 1930s Germany The origins of the company date back to 1930s Nazi Germany, and the project to build, and SAABSaab 9-3 Sport Sedan Saab Automobile is a Swedish automobile maker, now owned by General Motors. Until 1990 the company was owned by SAAB, an acronym for "Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget" (Swedish Airplane Company), which also included SAAB Aerospace and tr to offer in-dash XM receivers on an OEMOEM is an acronym with several meanings: # OEM can mean original equipment manufacturer # OEM can mean Office of Emergency Management. basis. As of January 2004, XM is the leader in the satellite radio market.
The combination of two satellites and the ground based repeater network is designed to provide gap-free coverage anywhere within the continental U.S. Unfortunately, both the XM-1 and XM-2 satellites are suffering from a generic design fault on the Boeing 702 series of satellites, which means that their lifetimes will be shortened to approximately six years (design lifetime of 15 years). XM-3 will need to be launched in 2004 to ensure continuation of service, and procurement of XM-4 will need to be advanced by several years. It is believed that XM was issued a credit by Boeing on the new spacecraft.
XM Satellite Radio makes the majority of its stations available on the Internet, for an additional subscription fee of $8 monthly for those without an over-the-air account and $4 monthly for those with an over-the-air account.