Pandora, Sprint Release Custom Net Radio On The Go

Pandora, the wonderful online custom radio service, will soon be treading very deep water if and when the Copyright Royalty Board of the United States Library of Congress institutes the proposed internet radio rate hike in a number of weeks. So the company has to keep ahead of the game by an extra few feet at all times. Its newest move may prove smart enough to ensure that the company has quite a bit of life left in it.

A new service resulting from a partnership struck between Sprint, an American wireless network, and Pandora has fallen into the hands of US consumers (sorry world, you’re going to have to wait some more – if forever, with respect to Pandora), and it may turn out to be a real leap in the evolutionary line of internet radio.

Pandora has publicly stated its desire to escape its solely “stationary” existence in its users lives and go mobile. With bandwidth provided by Sprint’s 3G data network (and possibly its 4G WiMAX network, slated to launch between Q2 of 2008 and the close of 2009 for the wireless market in the US), Pandora accounts will be accessible to anyone [within the Sprint network…and in possession of a compatible handset] with a solid hold on an EV-DO transmitter.

While Sprint is leading the way with 99-cent direct-to-phone downloads (all other American networks offer higher rates), mobile Internet radio is still very much up for grabs, and it makes absolute sense for this particular mobile network, currently #3 among US carriers, to seek an early hold on media deals anywhere it detects reasonably large consumer interest.

Pandora’s future is still uncertain, so to speak, but with the Save Net Radio campaign running at full steam and a steady line of media coverage keeping it within Average “Techie” Joe’s frame of mind, there’s a considerable chance that Pandora, along with many other Internet radio institutions, will not have to live with irrational year over year rate hikes to continue to legally play back copyrighted media.

If you couldn’t care less about the travails of the Internet radio industry and the rate hikes and all that stuff, just know this: $3 per month to get Pandora on your phone. Great deal, no?

Note: According to Pandora’s page on the release, to enjoy ‘Pandora on the Go’, one will need to purchase monthly access to Sprint Power Vision. A nice twist at the end, eh?