The FCC Tuesday granted construction permits for 25 low-power radio stations.
The approvals are the first given the go-ahead to build the tiny non-profit stations. The service was created during the tenure of previous agency chairman William Kennard. Low-power stations were designed to provide access to the airwaves for community groups, schools and churches, which are generally blocked from operating conventional full-power stations because of the high prices for licenses fetched since a consolidation wave was launched in 1996. Low-power stations have a signal radius of only a few square miles.
Groups receiving permits included the League of United Latin American Citizens in South Bend, Ind., The Lawyers Second Amendment Society in Porterville, Calif., The Good News Church in Augusta, Ga., and the SETEC Astronomy Club in San Clemente.
- Bill McConnell
