Several more radio stations possible in the GTA, but not as many as previously thought

Industry Canada has launched technical tests to determine if more FM radio stations can be squeezed into spectrum-congested markets, particularly Toronto. Department officials won’t speculate as to how many new FM stations can be accommodated by reducing the space between each channel, but they doubt it will be as many as 16, as suggested in an engineering report prepared by Imagineering Ltd and submitted to Industry Canada in January (RoW, Feb. 5/01). The department isn’t ready to concede that any of the opportunities identified in the report are even possible, and it won’t act hastily to change its current rules. "We’re doing tests on existing receivers to see if some of (the Imagineering recommendations) can be done or not," says Jack Dadourian, manager, broadcast and multimedia terrestrial engineering at Industry Canada. Tests are being conducted on existing FM radios and results are expected by the end of the year. He notes, however, that there are several inconsistencies in the report. "The Imagineering report was essentially based on a number of assumptions that if the department modified some technical rules, we (would be able to) get 16 more FM radio stations in the Greater Toronto Area," Dadourian told Report on Wireless. Following discussions with staff at Imagineering, he says there was no concrete evidence that some of their assessments would work. "They thought that if this was feasible, it would yield so many stations." Industry observers criticize department’s current rulesIndustry Canada has been criticized by some broadcasting consultants for using "archaic" technical rules for FM (RoW, Feb. 5/01). They say that newer FM receivers alleviate the need for larger spacing requirements between stations and that shorter spacing allotments have been used in some congested U.S. cities with much success. In the interim, however, the department has found room for a few additional AM, FM and digital radio broadcast (DRB) stations under existing technical rules. It identified available frequencies to accommodate seven new channels of AM service, 10 more program channels for DRB and two additional FM stations. For example, two new FM stations could be accommodated in the east end of the city. While Dadourian recognizes the geographic location isn’t the best and the size of the area is quite small, he says larger stations could cause interference to stations outside the Greater Toronto Area. "We looked for holes in the allotment plan to see if we could drop in (additional) channels," he explains. Asked whether this could apply for other spectrum-congested regions, he adds that detailed studies of each region’s spectrum usage would first be required. Department to take cue from broadcast technical group The Broadcast Technical Advisory Committee (BTAC) will be paying close attention to the results of Industry Canada’s testing. The committee, which brings together government, public and private broadcasters, and broadcast consultants, will have working groups monitoring the testing and will report back to BTAC with its primary recommendations on which rules to change. Dadourian says that once all recommendations are filed, BTAC will consult with concerned parties and then Industry Canada will issue a Gazette notice on the proposed changes. He expects primary concerns with existing technical rules to begin to filter in this fall with a full slate of recommendations early next year. A Gazette notice may take another six months after that, he adds. For more information on this story, see the August 2/01 issue of Report on Wireless affiliate publication, Canadian Communications Reports.

Several more radio stations possible in the GTA, but not as many as previously thought

News | 08/07/2001 4:00 am EDT

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