Frequencies in LPFM Window Expected to Be 'Tight'
Interest is growing in the November window for low-power FM applications, but finding frequencies for would-be LPFMs is going to be difficult, said Prometheus Radio Project Engineering Director Paul Bame and REC Networks founder Michelle Bradley in a Society of Broadcast Engineers webinar Monday. Most inquiries received by Prometheus are coming from groups in highly populated urban areas that are unlikely to have room for new LPFM stations, Bame said: “The cities are tight; most of them are full.”
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The LPFM application window is open Nov. 1 to Nov. 8 (see 2306220051), and an accompanying freeze on minor changes for LPFMs and FM translators starts Sept.1. The FCC will likely issue the lists of mutually exclusive applications about a month after the window, and possibly grant applications starting in January, said Bradley. Grantees will then have three years to build their stations. Prospective LPFM licensees “need to realize” the expense of operating even a small LPFM station, Bradley said. Many nonprofits pursuing LPFM construction withdrew from the process over “sticker shock,” she said. Emergency alerting requirements, the need to hire professional engineers and attorneys, and construction costs add to LPFM expenses, she said.
The proliferation of FM translators since the last LPFM window in 2013 is a major reason that open frequencies for new LPFMs are likely to be hard to find in populated areas, said Bradley and Bame. There has been a “hemming in” of LPFM by translators, Bame said. Any future LPFM window is likely to face an even tighter squeeze, so groups interested in low-power radio should apply this time, said Bame. The first thing an entity looking into LPFM should do is determine “if there's any possibility at all of a frequency that will cover any of the people you care about,” Bame said. With a small pool of frequencies, many applications will be mutually exclusive, which could cause some applications to take two to three years to be granted, he said. That can make it hard for an organization to maintain interest or fundraise for such projects, he said.
“Over half the cold calls” Prometheus received from interested parties are about potentially minority-owned LPFM stations, Bame said. REC is seeing a 50-50 mix of inquirers from faith-based and secular groups, Bradley said. She said she's also seeing interest from local government entities and smaller groups forming nonprofits for the purpose of applying for an LPFM license. LPFM stations currently number about 1,970, Bradley estimated. Many religious organizations have existing resources for members looking to apply for an LPFM station, so those prospective licensees likely wouldn’t contact Prometheus or REC, Bame noted.
Interference complaints and other technical issues among LPFMs are rare, Bame and Bradley both said. Most of the difficulties facing an LPFM station occur in “the nontechnical realm,” said Bame. “Organizations change, nonprofits change. Some of them run out of money,” he said.