FCC Issuing Low Power FM Licenses For First Time in Decade, First Time Ever in Urban Areas

For non-profits, schools, public security agencies and Indian tribes

Today the Federal Communications Commission announced that for the first time in more than a decade, community groups nationwide will soon be able to start small, local radio stations. Nonprofit organizations, schools, Indian Tribes and public safety agencies can apply for Low Power FM (LPFM) stations in October 2013. For the first time ever, the agency will allow these noncommercial stations in urban areas. 

The news is long-awaited by the Prometheus Radio Project and its supporters, who led the grassroots coalition that pushed Congress to pass the Local Community Radio Act of 2010. The law expanded community radio by directing the FCC to make more channels available nationwide, reversing an earlier law that relegated stations to rural settings. The FCC implemented the law by creating more flexible rules on where new stations can be located.