On April 2, the FCC released a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in its proceeding to “modernize and revise its rules” by permitting limited, voluntary program origination on FM booster stations.
The FNPRM set deadlines for filing comments and reply comments at 30 and 60 days,
respectively, after publication of the FNPRM in the Federal Register. That’s now happened, putting in place firm comment dates.
With the FNPRM published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, comments must be submitted no later than May 16. Reply Comments must be submitted no later than June 17.
The Commission unanimously adopted changes to its rules that will allow FM booster stations to originate programming — “subject to future adoption of processing, licensing, and service rules” as proposed in a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Commissioners have up for consideration — and public input. The FNPRM will address some implementation issues identified by the Commission.
“GeoBroadcast Solutions looks forward to working with the agency to resolve these related issues in an expedited manner,” it said.
These include program origination notification, synchronization, and the request by the FCC for comment on whether it should modify section 74.1204(f) of its rules to include a mechanism to address predicted interference while booster construction permit applications remain pending.
There’s also a call for a maximum, as the FCC further proposes to amend section 74.1232(g) of the rules to limit full-service FM stations to 25 program originating booster stations. “This cap on the number of program originating FM booster stations would represent a change from the current rule, which imposes no numerical limit on FM
booster stations,” the FCC said.
