ARCHIVED -  Decision CRTC 97-669

Decision

Ottawa, 10 December 1997

Decision CRTC 97-669

Nornet Broadcasting Ltd.

Fort St. John, British Columbia - 199704664

Increase in power for new FM radio station

1. Following Public Notice CRTC 1997-116 dated 3 September 1997, the Commission approves the application to amend the broadcasting licence to be issued to Nornet Broadcasting Ltd. (Nornet) for an FM radio programming undertaking to be operated at Fort St. John. In Decision CRTC 96-646, dated 27 September 1996, the Commission approved an application by Nornet for the new station. The current application proposes to increase the effective radiated power of the station as approved in Decision CRTC 96-646, from 20,000 watts to 50,000 watts, to locate the transmitter for the new station at a site 23 kilometres southeast of the authorized site, and to increase the height of the transmitting antenna. The Commission notes that there will be significant changes to the new station's signal contours as a result of these changes. Specifically, coverage to the southeast will improve.

2. The Commission hereby authorizes the licensee to operate the undertaking on the basis of the contours and particulars resulting from the above-mentioned changes.

3. Interventions in opposition to the changes noted above were submitted by Mega Communications Ltd. (Mega) and Okanagan Skeena Group Limited (OSG). At the time of the submission of the interventions, Mega was the licensee of CJDC Dawson Creek, and OSG had submitted an application to the Commission to acquire the assets of CJDC from Mega. That application was subsequently approved by the Commission and announced in Public Notice CRTC 1997-131. Both interveners opposed the changes proposed by Nornet on the grounds that the application constitutes a fundamental change to the nature of the licence granted to Nornet to serve the Fort St. John area, and that the increase in coverage would result in harmful financial impact to the operation of CJDC.

4. In response to the interventions, the applicant stated that the technical changes requested are not an effort to serve Dawson Creek, but are in response to the unforeseen structural inadequacy of the broadcast tower the applicant had intended to use. Nornet further noted that the community of Dawson Creek lies beyond the proposed 3 millivolt per metre broadcast contour, and its full signal therefore does not enter the market of Dawson Creek, as defined in Public Notice CRTC 1990-111. The applicant also noted that while Dawson Creek does fall within the 0.5 millivolt per metre contour, the location of that community in a valley makes it highly unlikely that a listenable signal from the Fort St. John station would be available to Dawson Creek listeners.

5. The Commission has considered the concerns expressed by the interveners and is satisfied with the applicant's response thereto.

6. The Department of Industry has advised the Commission that this application is conditionally technically acceptable, and that a Broadcasting Certificate will only be issued once it has been determined that the proposed technical parameters will not create any unacceptable interference with aeronautical NAV/COM services.

7. In accordance with subsection 22(1) of the Broadcasting Act, the Commission will only issue the licence amendment, and the authority will only be granted, at such time as written notification is received from the Department of Industry that its technical requirements have been met, and that a Broadcasting Certificate will be issued.

This decision is to be appended to the licence.

Laura M. Talbot-Allan
Secretary General

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