FCC Rulemaking on Competing Noncommercial Applications FCC Offers Limited Opportunity for Settlement of MX Situations Overview of Final FCC MX Decision (March 2001) Overview of Initial FCC MX Decision (June 2000) SRG's Petition for Reconsideration (July 2000) To view this document you need the Adobe Acrobat reader, which you may set up as either a plug-in to your browser or as a stand-alone application. If you do not have this program already installed on your computer, you may get it free by clicking here. Background When two or more parties apply to the Federal Communications Commission for the same broadcast spectrum, the applications are called "mutually exclusive" -- MX for short. For decades, these mutually exclusive situations have tied up commercial and noncommercial applicants in agonizingly protracted stalemates. The FCC has generally taken a hands-off approach, leaving applicants paralyzed for years. Some are addressed by the applicants themselves, with parties dropping out with the passage or time or buying out the competition. Others simply drag on, with applicants incapable of finding common ground for resolution. This frustrating situation has affected a growing number of public radio licensees and applicants. Matters only worsened in recent years as it became common practice for some organizations to file competing applications on top of any applicant seeking unused spectrum. SRG has viewed the situation as a growing problem -- a serious impediment to members' efforts to extend their public service with expanded delivery capacity. In 1998, the FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to evaluate mechanisms to resolve MX situations among noncommercial, educational broadcasters. SRG submitted extensive comments in the proceeding in October 1998 and again in March 1999. The FCC announced its initial decision in this proceeding through a Report and Order in the Federal Register on June 8, 2000. SRG members have good cause to celebrate some of the FCC's findings. Many of our recommendations were adopted. As is usually the case in these proceedings, several parties filed Petitions for reconsideration seeking to change or fine-tune various elements of the FCC decision. SRG filed its own Petition July 10, 2000. The FCC issued its final order February 28, 2001. Copyright 2001 Station Resouce Group. All Rights Reserved.