Advisory Letters

This REC Advisory Letter is to advise LPFM licensees of a pending rulemaking proceeding before the FCC.  This is an overview of the proceeding and our initial analysis of the impacts to LPFM and potential positions that will be taken by REC Networks in respect to this proceeding.  As with any proceeding, REC always welcomes the input from LPFM licensees, including those that REC has not worked with in the past to provide input. 

On October 30, 2020, Part 73 of the rules was amended to expand the use of directional antennas in the LPFM radio service.  With the new rules, LPFM stations may elect to use a directional antenna (DA) for any purpose, where in the past, it was limited to two specific reasons, public sector traveler’s information services (TIS) and solely for second adjacent channel protection.

The following is a first Advisory Letter from REC Networks to Low Power FM (LPFM) stations operating on reserved band channels 201~220 (88.1~91.9) and on channel 221 (92.1), which is first adjacent to channel 220 (91.9) to inform these stations about an upcoming filing window at the FCC for primary full-service facilities that can cause interference to or displace secondary LPFM stations.

In 2021, the Federal Communications Commission is planning to hold a filing window for new full-service noncommercial educational (NCE) broadcast stations in the “reserved band” (channels 201~220, frequencies 88.1~91.9).  This window will be for new full-service “full-power” FM broadcast stations with effective radiated powers of up to 50 or 100 kW, depending on which portion of the country the station is located in.   The last such filing window was conducted in 2007.  Stations from this window could be on the air as soon as very late 2021 or 2022.