SBE submits comments on FCC-proposed rule change
The SBE has submitted comments in response to the FCC’s Further Notice Of Proposed Rule making in PS Docket 109-19, which addresses modifications to the Part 90 rules regarding Traveler’s Information Stations (TIS). TIS operate in the AM broadcast band and the FCC is proposing to remove from the Part 90 rules the requirement that TIS audio frequencies above three kHz be filtered.
The deletion of this filtering requirement was not proposed by the Commission in earlier stages of this proceeding, but is being brought up now because commenters raised the issue, contending that that the required filtering decreases the audibility of TIS broadcasts, especially at night and over difficult terrain. One commenter suggested that this restriction could be removed with little or no increased interference with adjacent channel AM broadcasters.
In its comments, the SBE urges the Commission to protect licensed AM broadcasters and to retain the filtering requirement for TIS stations as it now reads. To do otherwise will contribute to the inability of AM broadcasters to compete in the radio marketplace, where it is already hampered substantially by increasing levels of man-made noise in the AM broadcast band.
The full comments of the SBE are available on the SBE website.
