[cma-l] 4ZZZ accounts (?)

Tue Dec 8 12:19:00 GMT 2015

Oh - come on fellas - that's never going to happen - is it?
As long as we have the WTA and some form of BA, there's always going to be regulation - and so there should be.
"Light touch"?Depends on who's doing it and who's on the receiving end whether it's seen as "light" or not.
CR stations get it slightly wrong with their KCs and get a whopping (for them) fine.
The commercial giants do more or less as they like - and threaten Ofcom if they don't get their own way.
Why otherwise would we have stupidly low powers for CR stations - restriction on advertising - and some areas designated as "no go" because there's a resident ILR that doesn't want competition.It's all around you if you look.
The CMA isn't in a position to bid for spectrum - even if there were a segment available.
The BBC isn't going to give up any of its heritage and random FM occupancy voluntarily and I can't see Ofcom or any possible successor making it happen.
So - the solution?
Radical changes to Regulation.Details confidential at the moment - but the DCMS is at least listening.
Ian Hickling
Partner

Office: 01635 578435  (7am-11pm UK time)Carphone: 07530 980115 (only responds when driving)6 Horn Street, Compton, NEWBURY, RG20 6QS

Date: Tue, 8 Dec 2015 10:52:44 +0000
From: info at a-bc.co.uk
To: cma-l at mailman.commedia.org.uk
Subject: Re: [cma-l] 4ZZZ accounts

Thanks for that Tony.  So just a mere 800watts ERP in the rural areas then!

Even though we'd like to think that way, I don't think 800w could work in UK - far more densely populated than France.  A more flexible approach up to say 200w would be welcome though.  Also consideration of some "light touch" licences below 25w might be good too.  Many rural villages would probably only need 1watt - but that would only be viable with far less red-tape.

Glyn

On 8 December 2015 at 10:08, Tony Bailey <ravensound at pilgrimsound.co.uk> wrote:

    Just picked this up after returning
      from overseas:

      I think Paris was something of a special case when they
      re-assigned the FM band Glyn.  A typical French FM community
      station in the sticks would have a 200 watt linear feeding a stack
      of four dipoles.  In Paris they assigned all 50 channels to the
      National and commercial stations including a few community slots
      which I think were all shared by the dozen or so
      interest/ethnic/religious bodies.  I don't remember there being
      any that did not cover the whole city, hence the unusually high
      power.  That was all many years ago, but it was interesting to us
      because all the original local French FM stations were pirates
      since only medium and long wave was then in use generally.

      Para 3 below: I've said this before: Radio Cracker!!

      Channel allocations: Actually now may be the time for the CMA to
      bid for this, if the authorities wish to devolve licensing?  For
      special events (JFMG) and radio amateurs (RSGB) are doing it
      already.  It's not a broadcasting issue since that would come
      under regulation, just radcoms.  Why don't we bid for a community
      radio sub band and let the BBC and ILR do the rest?

      Tony Bailey

      On 05/11/15 12:34, Associated Broadcast Consultants wrote:

      Interesting James (your insights - not the document that is a boring
financial statement).

I recall seeing somewhere that all the community stations in Paris are on
6kW from very high tower blocks.  Alternative models for community radio
can and do work, even in Europe.

Personally I'd like to see a more flexible approach at both ends - ie:
accommodate larger "community of interest" stations, maybe with stronger
rules if needed and at other end of the scale also some smaller
neighbourhood stations - say 1-5 watts with bare minimum light-touch
regulation that prevents interference concerns  Maybe allocate a single
channel to be used anywhere in the country, with no guarantees of coverage
quality similar to WiFi unlicensed approach.  Or something else that
embraces alternative approaches that others on this forum have alluded to
rather than the current rather quaint, paternalistic approach.

IMHO

Glyn

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