“Despite some past speculation, LP-250 is not dead in the water. We are just starting over with a new plan and a different commission.”
That’s the assessment of Michelle Bradley, founder of REC Networks, on the topic of a possible power increase for low-power FMs.
In an online post, Bradley responded to a Radio World story in which we speculated that a pending FCC action “affirming” a limit of 100 watts was bad news for REC Networks’ latest LP-250 proposal.
But Bradley said our interpretation was a misreading of events at the commission.
“The draft Order on Reconsideration merely upholds the FCC’s prior decisions made in the Report and Order in MB Docket 19-193, which prompted Petitions for Reconsideration by two different groups,” she wrote.
“The ‘finality’ that Acting Chair Rosenworcel suggests is the finality of these specific pending issues and once they were finalized, the commission could proceed with a LPFM filing window, which will follow sometime after November’s full-service noncommercial educational filing window.”
Bradley’s post details her extensive communications with the FCC staff over details of a possible 250-watt rule and why she believes her “Simple250” proposal will now get what she calls “a full set of downs.”
Her bottom line: “REC continues to feel that today’s FCC will have more of an appetite for an LP-250 rural expansion as compared to the previous Pai and O’Reilly FCC.”
(Update: The FCC subsequently adopted the draft order described above.)