Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio was founded in July 1990 in Washington, D.C., by the at-
torney and entrepreneur Martine Rothblatt. It is currently headquartered in New
York. This was not an ordinary company startup because before it could begin
operations, Rothblatt had to petition the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) to gain its approval for using part of the 2300-MHz band. While embedded
software is what drives the Sirius operation, it is the politics of getting the com-
pany started that is the most interesting and is also unique in this topic.
Fortunately, Rothblatt was not only an attorney but also a specialist in commu-
nications laws. She demonstrated a prototype from ground-based transmitters to
the FCC in 1992. Getting government approval for Sirius was not a trivial under-
taking. The legal and public policy issues were more complicated than the techno-
logy issues.
Rothblatt was not a novice in satellite communications, having previously
founded the GeoStar satellite navigation system and the PanAmSat television
broadcast group. Clearly, she knew a lot. Rothblatt left Sirius in 1992 due to her
daughter's illness, and she founded a medical research organization.
Five more years of lobbying and politics would be needed to gain regulatory
approval. Two CEOs followed her: Robert Briskman, a former NASA engineer,
and then David Margolese, who had funded Sirius. Needless to say, opposition
from conventional ground-based broadcasters was fierce. Probably the politics of
starting Sirius are more complex than any other company cited in this topic.
The FCC had shifted from assigning frequencies to auctioning them. In 1997,
Sirius successfully bid $83 million to gain access to the frequencies originally re-
quested in 1990. The FCC also sold a license to a competitor, XM Radio.
It was also necessary for Sirius to build satellite radio receivers and to negotiate
with major automobile companies to put satellite radios in automobiles, without
which there was little likelihood of a successful business model. Before Sirius
could become a viable company, several more daunting tasks were needed. First,
Sirius had to launch three satellites and construct a coast-to-coast transmitter net-
work.
In total, starting up Sirius Satellite Radio took about $2 billion in total funding.
This meant it was the most expensive startup cited in this topic as well as the most
expensive startup of any company in history!
Search WWH ::
Custom Search