Low Power Radio Interference Study Coming out This Summer -
Best Hope For A Low Power Future For Urban Community Radio

The low power radio service was launched in 2000, but it was curtailed soon after that in most metropolitan areas by a debilitating Act of Congress requiring more study before most licenses could be issued. The massive engineering study which followed this act, administered by the MITRE Corporation, will come out soon, and we will be arguing the case before the FCC to finish the job and let LPFM into our cities. If we win, it would allow thousands more small community groups in cities across the US to build these vibrant new stations, the strongest neighborhood institutions of a democratic media.

Just three months ago, we weren't hopeful that this would be a good time to win more licenses for LPFM. After all, the Republicans control the Congress, the courts, and the Presidency -- and by way of the Presidency, the FCC. Very few Republicans (John McCain being the prime exception) came to our defense when the so called "Radio Broadcasting Preservation Act" was snuck into an appropriations bill, snatching our low power victory away from us in 2000.

However, as a result of the work of Prometheus and a large coalition of other groups, media ownership is suddenly a hot topic in Washington! There is a groundswell of bipartisan support for major media reform, and many folks agree that LPFM should be at the heart of it. We are doing our best to get low power radio back on the table, and this time it won't be a Republican-vs-Democrat issue, but rather a plank on a general platform of media reform. We think that given the outrageous actions of the current FCC, Media Reform will be a major issue in the next presidential election.

In January of 2000, the FCC adopted the low power radio service. While the rules were not everything advocates had originally requested, they allowed for approximately 25 stations in the top ten urban markets in the United States. The FCC opened applications windows, and started to give out licenses. However, under pressure from the large broadcasting interests, key Republican Congressmen slipped language into an appropriations package that eviscerated the FCC's new rules in November of 2000. Under the Republican rules, about 75% of Low Power FM opportunities were eliminated, leaving only 1 new station available in the top 50 American cities. Smaller towns, further away from major metropolitan areas, were largely unaffected by the bill and allowed to build.

Under the rules passed by Congress, a testing program was mandated to do "field testing" in nine markets. The FCC hired an independent contractor to perform these tests (the MITRE corporation). The report has just been completed, and will probably be released in the summer of 2003. The report will eventually be presented to Congress, and Congress will decide based on these findings whether the original LPFM rules will be re-implemented. This could create thousands more Low Power FM stations, in larger cities where they are needed. In addition, there will be a smaller study of the potential economic impact of Low Power Radio on small commercial radio station owners.

Upon public presentation of the results of the study, a comment period will be opened. During this time, Low Power supporters will need to evaluate the report and comment on it to the FCC. It will be important to copy your comments to your congresspeople. Prometheus will reimplement its automatic comment software that lets your legislators and regulators know how you feel automatically, as well. In order to win this fight, Low Power FM stations that are up and running must introduce their work to Congress, so that they can see that community radio is more than a pipe dream. Low Power FM is already making hundreds of communities stronger and better around the country.

Comments from everybody are very important. Even if the FCC wants to ignore them, with this kind of energy coming from the Senate and from our thousands of constituents, this time we will make sure that our legislators won't be able to ignore this need.

Prometheus is actively searching for engineers and economists who would like to give their professional evaluations of these studies. You can see our published Request For Proposals at http://www.prometheusradio.org/rfp_mitre.shtml.

It is imperative that we hire an engineer and an economist to evaluate the studies. These evaluations will be the technical basis for a public awareness campaign on this issue, and will allow us to respond to the substantive arguments raised by the National Association of Broadcasters. We will also be mobilizing Low Power advocates and the public at large to comment on this issue at the FCC.

If you'd like to get more involved in the next phase of the LPFM struggle, get in touch with the Prometheus office, care of Pete Tridish -- This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it -- or Hannah Sassaman -- This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . There is much to be done!