22 April 1998

Federal Communication Commission
Office of the Secretary
1919 M Street NW, Room 222
Washington DC, 20554

REFERENCE: RM 9208 Micro Broadcast
 

Greetings:

I am writing in strong support of the proposal under consideration to create a "micro broadcast" class of radio station. For reasons noted below, I believe that the creation of such a class of broadcaster would benefit vast numbers of people who are currently under-served by broadcast media in this country. Please consider:

1.  BROAD COMMUNITY' ACCESS: The creation of Micro Broadcasters (MBs) should be done in such a manner that barriers to entry are minimized. All that is necessary is to assure that MBs operate in a legally responsible and technically competent manner. Fees and licensing procedures should be minimized and streamlined so that average individuals, schools, churches, and community organizations can again have ready and easy access to the public airwaves. To maintain this access, no individual or corporation should be allowed ownership of more than 5 MB station licenses.
2. TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY: As an ex-merchant marine officer (holding a Marine Radio Operators Permit) I am continuously amazed by the high technical quality and low cost of modern radio equipment. Output signals are stable and simply do not vary in either frequency or radiated power. If frequencies are assigned with even a minimum amount of care, MB stations will not interfere with other high-power broadcasters.
3. INCREASED COMPETITION: Micro Broadcasters will be able to directly respond to their immediate communities in ways that multi-station broadcast chains can not. Giving small, local businesses access to affordable, highly local radio advertising will allow them to compete more effectively with nation-wide businesses with multi-million dollar advertising budgets. In similar fashion, traditional high-power broadcasters, faced with local competition from MBs, will feel pressure to increase their community responsiveness and, perhaps, lower their advertising rates. Such outcomes will be healthy for both local communities and local economies.
4. POWER OUTPUT: My understanding is that the proposal under consideration would limit MB broadcast output power to 1 watt. I would suggest that consideration be given to the idea that this limit should be raised to 3 watts or even 5 watts. Such a modest increase would allow much better reception over a slightly larger area, without an appreciable increase in interference.
5. NEW ECONOMIC SECTORS: The advent of micro-breweries brought renewed competition and higher quality products to a moribund and complacent brewing industry. Similarly, the advent of the Internet allowed individuals ready access to powerful communications and information tools. It is reasonable to predict that Micro Broadcasting will have similar beneficial effects on the entire community of broadcasters and their audiences.

I hope that The Federal Communication Commission will look favorably on the concept of Micro Broadcasting. It is a small idea from which we will reap significant benefit.

Please also be so kind as to inform me of the action taken by the FCC on this matter. Feel free to use either my postal address or to e-mail me.

Thank you for your time and consideration.
 

Sincerely,

Eric Burnette