If a merger between XM and Sirius is approved, and the new company is ordered by the Federal Communications Commission to relinquish one of its licenses, Silver Spring-based Worldspace Inc. would be interested in entering the U.S. satellite radio market, its CEO said Monday.
“We would love to look into that if that’s available,” Worldspace Chief Executive Officer Noah Samara said during a meeting with reporters Monday. “We’ve always felt seamless global coverage is something the planet needs.”
But the company isn’t banking on hypotheticals. Worldspace, which operates two satellites that focus on Africa and Asia, has its sights set on expanding into Europe in 2008.
Its first market will be Italy, Samara said. Worldspace has regulatory permits to do business in the region, and its AfroStar satellite covers the area.
The company eventually hopes to move into France, Germany, the U.K. and Spain. It has a spare satellite built but has not determined when it will be launched or what its coverage area will be, Samara said.
Worldspace’s original business model was primarily supported by advertising, said Judith Pryor, vice president for corporate affairs. In 2005, it shifted it to a subscription-driven revenue model, similar to the U.S. satellite radio companies. D.C.-based XM invested $25 million in the company in July 2005, and four XM stations play Worldspace content.
Worldspace’s existing customers receive the service in their homes, Pryor said. The company plans to offer a service for automobiles, using a network of equipment on the ground that makes it possible. The mobile service will be offered in the Middle East sometime later this year, she said.
The company will announce its quarterly financial results this afternoon. In a note to investors Monday, Cowen & Co. analysts Tom Watts and Shaun Parvez said they expected Worldspace to report a number of new subscribers but for its total number of subscribers to be hurt by customers who declined to renew their service. The analysts saw promise in the Italian and Indian markets for Worldspace, but said the company still has problems with visibility and stagnant demand for its service.
