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To: Johnny Canuck who wrote (32278)	5/16/2001 11:32:20 AM
From: Johnny Canuck	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 68492

May 15, 2001 Sirius Satellite Radio Boosts Monthly Subscription Price By Gregory L. White Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal DETROIT -- Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., one of two companies that will begin offering a satellite-radio service in the U.S. later this year, announced Tuesday it is raising its monthly subscription price. In a regulatory filing, Sirius said it will charge a monthly fee of $12.95, instead of the $9.95 rate that the company had been planning since its inception about a decade ago. Company officials said they don't expect the increase to hurt consumer demand, since their market research shows potential buyers are willing to pay the extra cost. The rate hike will put Sirius's price above that of rival XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., which has said it will charge $9.95 a month for its service. Both Sirius and XM have seen their stock prices plunge in recent months as investors have grown concerned about delays in their rollout plans, which rely heavily on auto makers building satellite-radio receivers into cars. Sirius officials have said they don't expect significant volumes in new cars until sometime next year, more than a year later than the company had initially hoped. The delays have raised concerns about the money-losing companies' financial strength in the interim, but both XM and Sirius have said they are adequately funded. In its regulatory filing, Sirius said it has enough money to carry it through the middle of 2002, at which point it will raise additional equity or debt capital. Sirius officials noted that the higher monthly subscription fee should allow the company to spend more to acquire consumers early on, as its service builds recognition in the marketplace. In the regulatory filing, the company noted that it will also charge an activation fee for each subscriber at signup. The company also said that the subscription fee will be wrapped into the cost of some new vehicles on which the radios are installed.