Ofcom states that it had serious difficulty in identifying suitable FM frequencies in some areas in the first round of Community Radio licensing.  The regulator expects that frequency availability will be a bigger issue in the second round.  Ofcom has identified a number of areas where it is unlikely that suitable frequency resources remain available for further community stations to be licensed on FM (VHF Band II) spectrum (even taking into consideration the possibility of licensing some services for mono-only broadcasting, for example) in this round.

As a result, Ofcom will not accept applications proposing to serve on FM localities in certain areas of the UK, in this round.  The list of areas where Ofcom cannot consider applications for FM services follows.


List of areas where Ofcom cannot consider applications for FM service

 

Scotland and Northern Ireland

• City of Edinburgh Unitary Authority
• Glasgow City Unitary Authority

West and South Yorkshire and the Humber

• Leeds Metropolitan District

North Wales and northwest England

• Cheshire – Vale Royal District
• Lancashire – Chorley District
• Oldham Metropolitan District
• Tameside District
• Wirral Metropolitan District

West Midlands, east Midlands and Lincolnshire

• Birmingham Metropolitan District
• City of Nottingham
• Nottinghamshire – Gedling District
• Telford & Wrekin Unitary Authority
• City of Wolverhampton Metropolitan District

East and southeast England, including London

• Harlow District
• London (Boroughs of Barking & Dagenham, Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Camden, City of London, City of Westminster, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith & Fulham, Haringey, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Islington, Kensington & Chelsea, Lambeth, Lewisham, Newham, Southwark, Redbridge, Richmond Upon Thames, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth.)*
• Stevenage District

*(N.B. The London Boroughs of Harrow, Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Sutton, Croydon and Bromley are not on this list.  There remains the possibility that suitable frequencies may be identified in these areas.)