XM Radio Online (XMRO) has been a free service to XM subscribers since its introduction. But starting September 1st, new Canadian subscribers will have to pay another $9.99 (Canadian cash) to listen to their subscription online. Existing subscribers will only be charged an extra $1 until Sep 2008 when they too will hand over their first born for Internet radio.

While Internet radio may not matter to most users, XMRO was one of the big reasons I bought XM for my wife. She works in a dungeon with no windows where no on can stop me her Inno cannot get line of site, and XMRO makes her subscription worth something during an otherwise wasted 8 hours of service a day.

Were you worried that the XM/Sirius merger would make satellite radio cocky? Hopefully this pricing won't make its way to the US, but I'm doubting we'll be luckier, aye? – Mark Wilson

XM Canada Raises Fees [orbitcast]

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