The FCC is sharing more information on how the agency will handle the some 2,800 applications that came in during the window for new low-power FM stations.
Texas had the greatest number of filings by state (303), followed by California (283), Florida (276), Oregon (91), Georgia (81) and Washington (81). Ten or more applications were filed in the following cities: Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Houston, Miami, Tampa and Portland, Ore., according to the commission.
Culling through the submissions, the Media Bureau says its personnel have identified about 900 “technically acceptable LPFM applications” that don’t conflict with any others and hopes to begin issuing construction permits for those in January. The bureau says its staff has begun to change the status of these applications from “received” to “accepted for filing” in the commission’s electronic database. The daily “Broadcast Applications Public Notice” announces this action and starts the 30-day period to file petitions to deny.
Regarding applications where there is a conflict with at least one other entity that wants the same frequency in a market, the commission plans to identify those in December. Once it publishes those, applicants can communicate with each other to try and resolve conflicts through settlements and/or technical amendments. Applicants also have the option of entering into partial or 24/7 time-sharing arrangements.
