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This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action. Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official action. See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Circ 1974).
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 2, 2000 |
News Media Contact: David Fiske (202) 418-0513 |
Statement of FCC Chairman William Kennard on Low Power FM
Sadly, NPR is not satisfied that the FCC Reconsideration Order goes the extra mile to address their concerns, even though:
- We created an expedited complaint procedure for rapidly responding to unexpected interference;
- We added full protection for radio reading services from new LPFM stations while we test the concerns about receivers that NPR brought to us;
- We committed to protecting translator service in a manner compatible with the LPFM service.
What we declined to do was to give NPR stations new authority to allow NPR translators that are dislocated in the future to knock LPFM stations off the air.
The public interest should not fall prey to an all-or-nothing approach. I had hoped that NPR would see that their overriding mission to bring noncommercial radio service to the public is furthered by the establishment of new LPFM radio service that would serve small communities and niche markets.
It is a sad day when National Public Radio advocates a policy that would deny the public new radio service.