FCC Record, Volume 14, No. 4, Pages 2043 to 2714, January 25 - February 5, 1999 Page: 2,471

                                
IIFe Co mmi aI Co      I m Imisio  FCC 99I

Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of                           )          MM Docket No. 99-25
)
Creation of a Low                          )RM-9208
Power Radio Service                        )RM-9242
)
)
NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULE MAKING
Adopted: January 28, 1999                           Released: February 3, 1999
Comment Date: April 12, 1999
Reply Comment Date: May 12, 1999
By the Commission:   Chairman Kennard and Commissioner Tristani issuing a joint statement;
Commissioners Ness and Powell issuing separate statements; and Commissioner Furchtgott-Roth dissenting
and issuing a statement.
I. INTRODUCTION
1. By this Notice, we are proposing to establish rules authorizing the operation of new, low power
FM (LPFM) radio stations. In particular, we are proposing to create two classes of low power radio
service, both of which would operate in the existing FM radio band: a 1000-watt primary service and a
100-watt secondary service. We also seek comment on whether to establish a third, "microradio" class
of low power radio service that would operate in the range of 1 to 10 watts on a secondary basis. These
proposals are in response to two petitions for rule making and related comments indicating substantial
interest in, and public support for, increased citizens' access to the airwaves. We believe that these new
LPFM stations would provide a low-cost means of serving urban communities and neighborhoods, as well
as populations living in smaller rural towns and communities. In creating these new classes of stations,
our goals are to address unmet needs for community-oriented radio broadcasting, foster opportunities for
new radio broadcast ownership, and promote additional diversity in radio voices and program services.
We are proposing that LPFM stations not be subject to certain technical rules currently applied to other
classes of radio service. In particular, we believe that current restrictions on third-adjacent channel
operations are not needed for LPFM stations, and we believe it may be possible to disregard secondadjacent
channel interference for these stations as well. We address below how we may be able to do this.
At the same time, we are also proposing new technical rules and geographic spacing requirements to
ensure that new LPFM stations do not cause interference to existing full service FM radio stations. In
adopting any rules and requirements, we will also be wary of any provisions that would limit the

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Federal Communications Commission

FCC 99-6