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TECHNOLOGY Satellite radio is a radical innovation that began in 1992 when the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) allocated a portion of the S-band spectrum for nationwide broadcasting of a satellite based Digital Audio Radio Service (DARS). In 1997, two companies, XM Satellite Radio Holding Inc. (XM) and Sirius Radio Inc (Sirius) purchased exclusive rights to broadcast over this band for over $80 million each. Since the FCC had licensed no other spectrum for satellite radio purposes, XM and Sirius face no near-term threat of additional competition. XM and Sirius are also cushioned by the four-year gap it will take new entrants to assemble the infrastructure if the FCC auctions off additional DARS spectrum in the future. So the race was between XM and Sirius, and XM was able to take the lead early on by offering service nearly five months before Sirius. With its aggressive entry into the market, XM attracted 30,000 subscribers after just seven weeks of operation, while Sirius was still wrestling with its chipsets. Though there are similarities between the technological components and services offered by XM and Sirius, overall, each company has a different plan for its broadcasting system. XM’s ground station tr