FCC announces immediate freeze on certain FM allotment proposals, eventual freeze on ALL FM applications in light of upcoming December filing window

With the announcement of an upcoming open window for certain FM allotments, the Commission has frozen, effective immediately (i.e., as of October 16, 2009), (a) applications proposing to modify the reference coordinates of any of the 67 allotments available for application in the upcoming window, or (b) petitions and counterproposals that propose a change in channel, class, community, or reference coordinates for any of those 67 allotments.  (Curious about precisely which allotments are in play here?  Click here for the list.) 

This freeze will remain in effect until the day after the close of the window. The window is currently set to close on December 18, which would mean that the freeze should be lifted on December 19, barring any unforeseen developments.

The Commission also froze the filing of any commercial or noncommercial minor mod applications after 11:59 p.m. on November 25, 2009 until the close of the window

These freezes are standard operating procedure when filing windows are about to be opened. The goal is to avoid the creation of any conflicts (unforeseeable or otherwise) that could muck up the filing process.

For more information on the upcoming window opportunity itself, see our relating post here, or the underlying FCC public notice here.