Media Bureau Releases Updated Low Power FM Spectrum Availability Data Files

The Federal Communications Commission’s Media Bureau announced the release of updated water files for certain markets in anticipation of the resumption of Auction 83 FM translator application processing in the near future. The Low Power FM (LPFM) Fourth Report and Order included a detailed LPFM spectrum availability analysis at selected grid points within core areas in 156 studied markets. A description of the Bureau’s methodology and the summary results of its analysis appear in the Fourth Report and Order’s Appendices A and B. The Commission relied on this same methodology to fashion new processing rules for FM translator applications that remain pending from the 2003 Auction 83 window, and upheld and clarified these processing rules in the LPFM Fifth Order on Reconsideration. To help FM translator applicants identify protected LPFM channel/grid point combinations, the Bureau released the spectrum availability analysis program and data files by Public Notice on April 30, 2012. However, based on user comments and its own independent review, the Bureau has identified a few minor discrepancies in the files used to exclude grid points at locations over water or not within the United States. Specifically, the Bureau has updated the water files for Chicago, IL, Detroit, MI, Jacksonville, FL, and Los Angeles, CA.