Last June, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) announced that it would begin accepting applications for LPFM (Low Power FM) frequencies beginning October 15 through 29. These are non commercial licenses awarded at no cost so applicants must be schools, churches, municipalities or other non-profit organizations. This is a rare opportunity to broadcast locally produced programming and public service announcements and I believe some applications are being worked on for local stations in Bandon and Coquille and possibly Coos Bay. There may be a wrinkle, however, since the FCC website has been down since Tuesday when the government shutdown went into effect.
According to RadioSpark, one of the services helping organizations with the application process –
The FCC has not stated officially whether they expect the LPFM filing window to continue as planned – opening on October 15th and closing on October 29th. While it is uncertain whether the window can move forward during a government shutdown, we at Prometheus will assume no changes to the window unless the FCC officially says otherwise. All our operations will continue as planned. Our team will continue to support applicants with the intention of submitting final LPFM applications to the FCC no later than October 29th.
The window of opportunity is not likely to improve as a result of the shutdown so try to get your applications in as soon as possible.
Resources –
Common Frequency
Prometheus Radio
MyLPFM.org
