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Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2021-118

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Reference: Part 1 application posted on 11 January 2021

Ottawa, 24 March 2021

Aboriginal Multi-Media Society of Alberta
Edmonton and Fort McMurray, Alberta

Public record for this application: 2020-0864-8

CFWE-FM-4 Edmonton and its transmitter CFWE-FM-5 Fort McMurray – Technical changes

  1. The Commission has the authority, pursuant to section 9(1) of the Broadcasting Act (the Act), to issue licences for such terms not exceeding seven years and subject to such conditions related to the circumstances of the licensee as it deems appropriate for the implementation of the broadcasting policy set out in section 3(1) of the Act, as well as to amend those conditions on application of the licensee.
  2. Consistent with this authority, the Commission approves the application by the Aboriginal Multi-Media Society of Alberta to change the authorized contours of CFWE-FM-5 Fort McMurray, Alberta, a rebroadcasting transmitter of the Indigenous (Type B Native) radio programming undertakingFootnote 1 CFWE-FM-4 Edmonton, by increasing the maximum effective radiated power (ERP) from 23,500 to 100,000 watts, increasing the average ERP from 10,700 to 100,000 watts, replacing the existing directional antenna with a new non-directional antenna, decreasing the effective antenna height above average terrain from 95.0 to 77.9 metres and amending the existing coordinates of the transmitter site. All other technical parameters will remain unchanged.
  3. The Commission did not receive any interventions in regard to this application.
  4. When requesting technical changes, licensees are generally required to demonstrate a technical or economic need. The licensee stated that CFWE-FM-5 must relocate its broadcast tower because the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo is reclaiming the land on which the current transmitter is situated in order to build a new road that will permit additional capacity from downtown Fort McMurray to exit south and to assist in any potential future mass evacuation of the city in the event of a natural disaster. The Commission is satisfied that the licensee has demonstrated a technical need for the requested technical changes.
  5. Pursuant to section 22(1) of the Act, this authority will be effective only when the Department of Industry notifies the Commission that its technical requirements have been met and that a broadcasting certificate will be issued.
  6. The licensee must implement the technical changes by no later than 24 March 2023. To request an extension, the licensee must submit a written request to the Commission at least 60 days before that date, using the form available on the Commission’s website.
  7. As set out in section 16 of the Radio Regulations, 1986 (the Regulations), all radio station licensees have obligations relating to the broadcast of emergency alert messages received from the National Alert Aggregation and Dissemination System. In regard to the changes to CFWE-FM-5’s authorized contours resulting from the implementation of the technical changes approved in this decision, the Commission reminds the licensee that continued compliance with section 16 of the Regulations may require that any alert broadcast decoders (e.g., ENDEC) used for the purposes of broadcasting emergency alert messages on the stationFootnote 2 be reprogrammed to properly account for the new authorized contours.

Secretary General

This decision is to be appended to the licence.

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