The True Cost of Radios

Hidden Costs

Two-way radios are not always affordable.

For example, the Motorola XPR 3300e costs US $480.00 each.

When converted to Canadian dollars, this comes in at just over $600 before taxes. Even after this upfront cost, there are still yearly fees that must be considered. Such fees are administered by the government, meaning that a fine will be issued if they aren’t paid.

How much, exactly, do these fees cost?

Each mobile device costs $41 per year (Radio licensing, 2020). Assuming that you have 100 radios on your site, your costs will add up to $4,100 each year, indefinitely. These costs will be $41,000 after a decade, and this only includes licensing fees!

On the other hand, the cost for 100 radios alone is $60,000. When you add up the cost of licensing fees plus the cost of the devices over 10 years of ownership, your total comes to over $100,000 ($41,000 + $60,000). At the end of the day, you’re spending an unnecessarily significant amount of money on regulatory fees that can actually be avoided.

A Cost-Effective Option

Why spend a decent amount of money upfront, and then still be required to pay additional fees to use a device that you already paid for?

This is why radio alternatives like the picoLink are exciting. The picoLink doesn’t come with any extra fees to legally use the device. The upfront cost of the picoLink is also more economical, at $499.00 before tax; purchasing 100 picoLinks would only cost around $50,000.

Since there are no yearly fees, it’s irrelevant whether you choose to use your devices for 5, 10, or even 20 years. The price still remains the same: the $50,000 that you initially paid. This means that you save over $41,000 in licensing fees when you opt for the picoLink instead of a traditional radio.

Thus, when considering cost-effectiveness, the picoLink is an ideal solution, but how do its features compare?

Check out our other blog post where we discuss some of the downfalls of traditional radios.

• Radio licensing. B.C. Communications Inc. (2020, August 6).
  https://bccommunications.ca/blogs/services/radio-licensing#:~:text=The%20cost,).