Ofcom advertises new FM commercial radio licences for Manchester and Banbury

Ofcom today advertises two new local FM commercial radio licences for Manchester and Banbury.

MANCHESTER
Ofcom is advertising an FM commercial radio licence to cover the city of Manchester and surrounding area.

The measured coverage area of this new service is likely to contain an adult population (aged 15+) of around 1.3 million, which is more restrictive than that achieved by the existing Galaxy 102 service, which contains around 1.6 million adults. The exact coverage will be determined by the location of the transmission site and other technical
characteristics. The proposed frequency (97.7 MHz) for this licence is subject to international agreement on radio spectrum usage.

The closing date for the submission of applications is 5.00 p.m. on 9 February 2005. A non-refundable fee of £12,000 will be payable for each application submitted.

The full details for this licence, including the guidelines and
procedures for the submission of applications, can be obtained from the Ofcom website at: www.ofcom.org.uk

BANBURY
Ofcom is also today inviting applications for a licence to provide an FM commercial radio service to cover the town of Banbury and surrounding area.

Ofcom estimates this licence could achieve coverage of an area with an adult population (aged 15+) of around 70,000. However, the exact coverage will be determined by the location of the transmission site and other technical characteristics.

The closing date for the submission of completed applications will be 5.00 p.m. on 9 February 2005. A non-refundable fee of £1,500 will be payable for each application submitted.

The full details for this licence, including the guidelines and
procedures for the submission of applications, can be obtained from the Ofcom website at: www.ofcom.org.uk

GENERAL INFORMATION
Both licences will be issued for a twelve year period.

All applications for these licences will be published on the Ofcom website as soon as is practicable after the closing date.

Ofcom welcomes the views of the public about the local needs of listeners in these areas and the types of services required. Opinions on these issues can either be emailed to commercialradio@ofcom.org.uk or posted to
Neil Stock, Head of Radio Planning & Licensing, Ofcom,
Riverside House, 2a Southwark Bridge Road, London SE1 9HA.

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