FCC Vindicates Low Power

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Delivered-To: dfarber+ () ux13 sp cs cmu edu
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2004 12:20:23 -0800
From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>


[Note:  This item comes from reader Benn Kobb.  DLH]

At 20:08 -0500 2/20/04, Benn Kobb wrote:
To: dewayne () warpspeed com
From: Benn Kobb <bkobb () ieee org>
Subject: FCC Vindicates Low Power
Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2004 20:08:47 -0500

February 20, 2004
Contact:  Hannah Sassaman or Pete Tridish
215.727.9620, 267.970.4007

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION VINDICATES LOW POWER
Make More Room for LPFM, Engineers and Regulators tell Congress

<http://www.prometheusradio.org/pr_fcc_reports_congress.doc>

The Federal Communications Commission released a major report today,
February 20th, concerning its Low Power FM radio service.  The FCC is
making its recommendation to Congress that they remove the third adjacent
frequency restrictions that keep Low Power FM radio out of most American
communities, especially out of our cities.  This act will open the doors
to hundreds, if not thousands, of new potential community radio stations
in the United States, more essential than ever in a time of increasing
media consolidation and decreasing access to the airwaves.

The original granting of licenses for the Low Power FM service was stopped
in its tracks in December of 2000, when Congress, under the
recommendations of the National Association of Broadcasters and NPR,
placed an exorbitant protection standard on the FM broadcast band.
Convinced by the corporations' cries of "interference", Congress passed a
law keeping Low Power radio off of most of its intended frequencies, and
over 60% of the potential stations were lost.

"When Congress listened to the big corporate lobbyists -- who were telling
them that our 100 watt radio stations would interfere with their 100,000
watt Goliaths, they were flouting decades and decades of engineering
precedent," said Prometheus Radio Project technical director Pete Tridish.
  "Everyone in this business, including the FCC, knew that there was room
for our stations on the dial.  Now Congress knows it for a fact, and it's
their job to pass the law allowing more LPFM stations to be built."

LPFM licenses are granted to groups that promise to broadcast
non-commercial, locally-produced broadcasting that will serve their
regions and towns.  The Prometheus Radio Project, alongside many other
national organizations, fought for the implementation of these licenses at
the turn of the last century.  Prometheus will work to get the groups who
lost out on LPFM in 2000 back into the game, helping them apply for
stations and get their voices into their communities.

"We're very glad to see that the FCC is telling Congress what we've know
all along to be true," said Low Power FM broadcaster Mike Shay, of
environmental action station WRYR-LP in Anne Arundel Country, Maryland.
"I'm going to work overtime to tell folks all over the country that now is
the time to ask their Congresspeople to bring stations to their
communities!"

To read the report in its entirety, download the FCC's Adobe PDF document
from this site --
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-244128A1.pdf.

The Prometheus Radio Project is an advocacy group that builds,
proliferates, and works to further accessibility to Low Power FM community
radio stations.  They also work for the movement for a more democratic
media and communications rights all over the country and all over the
world.  For more information about Prometheus, contact Pete Tridish at
215.727.9620, or at petri () prometheusradio org, or Hannah Sassaman at
267.970.4007, or hannahjs () prometheusradio org.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Hannah Sassaman
Program Director
Prometheus Radio Project
hannahjs () prometheusradio org
215.727.9620
267.970.4007

Archives at: <http://Wireless.Com/Dewayne-Net>
Weblog at: <http://weblog.warpspeed.com>

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