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TX Houston Chronicle Editorial: New FCC rules soon could let schools, churches, and community groups..
TX Houston Chronicle Editorial: New FCC rules soon could let schools, churches, and community groups.. 
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| Houston Chronicle Editorial: New FCC rules soon could let schools, churches, and community groups.. |
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The Houston Chronicle October 09, 2000, Monday 3 STAR EDITION SECTION: A; Pg. 24 LENGTH: 511 words HEADLINE: NO STATIC ; (Interference-free) small FM stations a wonderful idea SOURCE: Staff BODY: New Federal Communications Commission rules soon could let schools, churches and community groups operate small, noncommercial, low-power FM radio stations for reception over small areas. The prospect is exciting for its potential to broaden access to the airwaves and create outlets for entertainment outside the mainstream, community perspectives, grass-roots advocacy and public service programming. But to achieve those worthy goals, the FCC wants to squeeze channels closer together on the already crowded FM spectrum. The National Association of Broadcasters opposes the plan because low-power stations could create static on existing stations. What may surprise those who support the ideals of community radio is that National Public Radio also opposes the FCC's plan because of the potential for interference with its 271 member stations. The two camps, along with the International Association of Audio Information Services, which provides radio reading services for the blind, support the Radio Broadcasting Preservation Act, S. 3020, which the House has passed. This compromise bill, which enjoys Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's co-sponsorship, would let low-power station licensing proceed while protecting spectrum integrity. The bill mandates the FCC maintain the current three-position buffer around station location points on the FM dial and an independent test of whether low-power stations broadcasting without buffers would interfere with current stations' reception. The bill also would protect signals beamed from "translator" stations that boost public radio signals around geographic obstacles and into underserved, and often remote and rural, communities. One such is Beaumont's KVLU-FM, whose translator serves around 75,000 people in the Lake Charles, La., area. The FCC also will have to determine the impact on crucial reading services for the blind. Many blind or sight-impaired people, especially elderly persons, utterly depend on broadcast readings to keep abreast of newspaper content, bus schedules, store sales, polling place locations and the like. The potential problem with adding new FM stations is that reading for the blind broadcasts are picked up with special receivers that are especially vulnerable to interference because only a sliver of the spectrum is dedicated to this service. In a nod to concerns from commercial broadcasters, the bill requires the FCC to study the economic impact of low-power stations on for-profit FM stations. The Chronicle continues to support the creation of low-power FM radio stations, but acknowledges that creating new stations that interfere with current ones does little to bring new voices to the community. The proposed legislation will help ensure that newly created low-power FM stations can peacefully co-exist with current stations and radio reading services for the blind. For the bill's provisions to work, lawmakers must act to prevent this vital compromise legislation from dying with the rapidly approaching conclusion of the 106th Congress. TYPE: Editorial Opinion LOAD-DATE: November 20, 2000 |
