On-time filing is critical.
The FCC made that point yet again in a decision to dismiss an application to renew an FM translator, DK272BO in Bishop, Calif.
The case has its roots 10 years ago and involved some unusual time frames.
The commission notes that an application for renewal in this case should have been filed by Aug. 1, 1997, but was not.
Six years later, in 2003, the FCC staff wrote to Robinson telling him his license had expired, that authority to operate the station was terminated and the call letters had been deleted from the commission’s database. It told him further operation of the station was unauthorized and must cease immediately.
Nearly two months after that, Robinson finally filed a renewal application to renew the license of his FM translator station. The FCC said Robinson filed no formal petition for reconsideration of the cancellation letter but it treated his letter as essentially seeking reconsideration of its ruling, which it now has denied — a decade after the initial failure to file a timely renewal.