[cma-l] If you thought Ofcom's RSL licence charges were too high.....

[Richard Hilton]

I don't want to pour cold water over this but I've done a quick search through the consultation paper and can't see where it mentions RSLs.  Can someone post the relevant paragraph numbers / sections.

Or are we meant to be using this process to have a go at Ofcom over their charges?

Thanks


Richard

From: cma-l-bounces at mailman.commedia.org.uk [mailto:cma-l-bounces at mailman.commedia.org.uk] On Behalf Of Glyn Roylance
Sent: 27 November 2010 16:46
To: cma-l at mailman.commedia.org.uk
Subject: [cma-l] If you thought Ofcom's RSL licence charges were too high.....


....then there is a golden opportunity for you to make this point, as Ofcom are holding a consultation on WT Licence charges.  You can read about it and see how to respond here: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/notice-proposals/

I'd advise this really is an opportunity not to be missed.  We have responded by email, copied to our MP. You may also respond online or by post.  The text of our response is copied below.  Come on guys...!



Background
Severnvale Media CIC is a not for profit organisation that runs a community radio station in South Gloucestershire called GLOSS FM. Both Severnvale Media CIC and GLOSS FM are staffed entirely by volunteers. The station has operated two 1 month RSL broadcasts per year since it started in November 2005. In addition it broadcasts 365 days a year on the internet.

Response to Consultation
Severnvale Media CIC were disappointed to read that RSL licensing charges have not been reviewed in this consultation. As a voluntary organisation, we find that funds are extremely scarce, and so considerable time and effort is spent in attracting advertising revenue. This detracts from volunteer time available to deliver our social gain and community service objectives.

Alongside music royalty fees, the RSL radio licensing costs are a huge burden to the station, so much so it almost seems like a penalty charge.
We fully acknowledge that a contribution towards administrative expenses is required for RSL licenses. However given the scale of charges we have to pay for each broadcast we find it hard to believe that this accurately reflects administrative costs. If it does, then we ask an open question whether the administrative efficiency of the RSL licensing process should be reviewed. The costs seem even harder to understand when often we are asking for the same height and power from the same location as previous licences. We are also at a loss to understand an apparent 4000% pro-rata premium for RSL spectrum versus spectrum for full time Community Radio (CR) licences.

Big Society
We have read about and broadly agree with the Government's plans for the "Big Society". However we find it hard to understand why a group of people like GLOSS FM trying to contribute to their communities have to pay such a high cost of entry which feels like a tax or penalty charge.

Proposal
We propose that RSL radio licensing charges are reviewed for RSL stations that have a clear and measurable input to their local community that results in social gain and general community spirit. RSL's with purely commercial aims should still pay the same or more than currently. The two types of RSL stations could perhaps be distinguished by requiring compliance to a suitable statement in the application form requiring community service, or alternatively through expectation of a kind of "lightweight key commitments" like full time community radio stations.

--
GLOSS FM now broadcasting on 87.7FM across South Gloucestershire
http://www.glossfm.org.
Why not download the GLOSS FM browser toolbar for easy access to radio player, local information and more!
http://GLOSSFM.Toolbar.fm/


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