The ACMA is inviting applications for transmitter licences to provide high-power open (HPON) narrowcasting services in Gosford, New South Wales (747 kHz) and Hobart, Tasmania (104.3 MHz).
The licences will be issued under a price-based allocation system, meaning if the ACMA receive more than one application for a HPON licence, they will issue that licence to the highest bidder at an auction.
The coverage area of the Hobart HPON is within a radius of 70 km from the nominal transmitter site at the Broadcast Australia Site, Pinnacle Road, Hobart Tasmania.
The transmitter site for the Gosford HPON is at the HPON AM Tower, adjacent to the Facilities Building, Gosford Race Course, 2 Blackett St, Gosford NSW.
The coverage area of the Gosford HPON differs for daytime and night-time operation.
The Gosford HPON technical specification states the daytime urban coverage area is within a radius of 14 km from the nominal transmitter site, and the night-time coverage area is within 4 km of the nominal transmitter site.
However, in the absence of any interference it is expected that the day time coverage of the HPON service on 747 kHz may extend to a suburban signal level within a coverage radius of 35 km from the nominal transmission site and provide coverage to an approximate population of 450,000.
The Hobart and Gosford licences will be issued for five-year terms, but may be renewed, subject to legislative constraints.
Further information, including registration forms and an applicant information package is available on the ACMA website. Applications must be made by 5pm AEDT on Monday 30 March 2020.
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Licence goes to the highest bidder !
Whatever happened to "fit and proper person " to hold a licence?
All those weeks sweating over licence applications to show station was worthy of licence renewal !!!
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The last new metro stations based on the "fit and proper person" test aka "the beauty parade" of which I'm aware was for the first round of FM stations that went to air in 1980.
Perhaps based on the maxim of "money talks and BS walks," the next rounds of FM stations (Nova, Vega) were simply auctioned to the highest bidder. That's the simple/short answer. In reality it's much more complex than that. Technically, even the highest bidder could be knocked back if they were deemed to be an unfit and improper person but no one has failed that test yet.
There were also some AM to FM conversions which were mostly "silent auctions." - Ed.