To help the Federal Communications Commission deal with the influx of applications received during the November 2021 filing window for new noncommercial education FM stations, the commission took the step of weeding out those applications with flaws and dismissing a section of those with technical defects.
The application window was a popular one — the bureau received 1,282 applications for new NCE FM stations. As the bureau began to review the applications, Media Bureau staff identified mutually exclusive (MX) groups and singletons (those applications that are not mutually exclusive with other applications filed in the window).
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The bureau also announced, in a Public Notice on Dec. 8, it was taking the step of dismissing singletons that were defective. According to the bureau, 75 of singleton applications submitted have technical issues.
Applications were dismissed for various reasons including a second-adjacent channel violation, antenna power output that exceeds the FCC’s 15 dB limit and insufficient broadcast coverage of a city.
But even though those 75 applications have been dismissed, each of the applicants has an opportunity to file a curative amendment and petition for reconsideration. Those petitions must be filed within 30 days of the dismissals. For an application to be reinstated, the amendment must correct the defects, propose only minor changes, comply with the commission rules and not create new application conflicts.
Amendments should be filed electronically through the FCC’s Licensing and Management System using Schedule 340.