The 10-station NCE cap goes against the hopes of Educational Media Foundation, which the FCC says was the only party that argued against any method of limiting applications.
“EMF argues that the complexity of the NCE FM application form and the commission‘s point system for deciding between mutually exclusive applications will deter speculative applications,” the commission summarized. EMF also argued that the cap would violate rights of potential applicants “to file for channels in which they might be interested.”
Alternatively, EMF argued that the application limit should not apply to an application filed to replace an operating FM translator station.
The FCC said others argued that this proposed exception would defeat the goals of deterring speculative applications and facilitating prompt processing of applications.
While only EMF argued for no cap at all, at least a few commenters supported a higher cap, arguing that the FCC‘s 10 would be too low in light of pent-up demand for new NCE stations.
