Subject: [NEXTEL-1] FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION VINDICATES LOW POWER Make More Room for LPFM

From: Marcelrf <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2004 20:07:06 -0500

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 [email-masked], or Hannah
Sassaman at 267.970.4007, or [email-masked].
 
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Hannah Sassaman
Program Director
Prometheus Radio Project
[email-masked]
215.727.9620
267.970.4007

-- 
    "NEXTEL-1 IT'S NOT JUST NEXTEL"
  Note The New address 
Subscribe to Nextel-1: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/NEXTEL-1

  "NEXTEL2 FOR iDEN SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS"
Subscribe to Nextel2: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/NEXTEL2

  "WIRELESS FORUM HOMELAND SECURITY GROUP"
     The Complete Resource for Wireless Homeland Security.
Subscribe to WFHSG:  http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/WFHSG

Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEXTEL-1/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
     [email-masked]

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
     http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/