Federal Communications Commission	"FCC  XX-XXX"


STATEMENT OF
COMMISSIONER BRENDAN CARR

Re: 	Amendment of Part 74 of the Commission’s Rules Regarding FM Translator Interference, MB Docket No. 19-40.

Over the past few years, we’ve seen a substantial uptick in the use of FM translators—these are radio stations that rebroadcast the signal of an AM or FM station.  In fact, the FCC has authorized over 1,700 new FM translator stations since the end of 2017, and roughly 500 of those are already online.  This is great news for listeners because translators can overcome the technical challenges facing the AM band while expanding coverage in rural and remote parts of the country.  But this success presents a new challenge—managing the potential for increased interference between translators and full-power stations.

Under our current rules, a single interference complaint can lead to lengthy and expensive disputes, threats of litigation against both stations and listeners, and translators going dark.  Broadcasters large and small agree that our current process is frustrating, at best, and has led bad actors to game the system.  So I’m glad that today’s Order implements a better system for handling interference disputes.  The process we adopt today will encourage the good-faith resolution of interference issues by allowing translators to move to any available frequency and by requiring threshold showings from those claiming harmful interference.  This will provide the regulatory certainty needed to encourage continued investment in translators while protecting full-power stations from interference.

I want to thank the Media Bureau for its work on this item.  It has my support.
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