Want Your Own Educational Radio Station? Here's Your Chance

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"The Federal Communications Commission will accept applications for new full power non-commercial educational (NCE) FM radio station licenses sometime this year, perhaps in late spring," writes Carmen Ausserer. "Typically, the FCC gives between one and three months notice before opening the filing window, which will likely last only five days." The process will end a six-year FCC freeze on new full-power licenses. "The window is a rare opportunity for non-profits and educational institutions," notes Ausserer. Organizations including Prometheus Radio Project, Native Public Media, the National Federation of Community Broadcasters and Radio for People Coalition are raising awareness about the opportunity and providing information to interested groups. But "the FCC can only accept applications for frequencies that do not conflict with existing stations, which, for the most part, no longer exist within 30 miles of the largest 100 cities in the U.S."