FCC Plans Auction to Resolve 15-Year-Old FM Translator Applications
The FCC Media and Wireless bureaus will hold an auction in June to resolve mutually exclusive FM translator applications stalled since 2003, the bureaus said in a public notice in Wednesday's Daily Digest. The applications in the auction are only…
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those remaining after the FCC opened a settlement window and imposed limits on how many applications a single entity could file, blogged Wilkinson Barker broadcast attorney David Oxenford. “These contentious issues, involving a determination of the priorities to be accorded [low-power] FM stations and FM translators, took the FCC many years to resolve, postponing this auction for so long.” Translator applications for the upcoming window for AM stations are unlikely to take so long to resolve, he said. “We would expect that this delayed auction is a very unusual circumstance.” The June auction isn’t open; it's limited to specific entities based on the 2003 proceeding. A future public notice will specify procedures and announce a filing window for updating auction 83 applicants’ short-form auction applications, the PN said. This PN seeks comment on the procedures and format for the June auction, such as whether there will be a specific minimum opening bid amount for each construction permit, the PN said. Comments are due Feb. 6, replies Feb. 13.