After its unanimous approval in February’s Open Meeting, the FCC is seeking comment on a proposed national application cap and eligibility rules involving an upcoming filing window for new noncommercial educational reserved band FM translator construction permits.
Following the publication of a Public Notice in the Federal Register on Thursday, February 26, the formal comment deadline is March 13, 2026, with Reply comments due March 23. Filings must be submitted in MB Docket No. 26-20 through the Commission’s Electronic Comment Filing System.
The upcoming window is limited to new NCE reserved band FM translator applications. The FCC said it will not accept applications proposing major modifications to existing NCE reserved band FM translators during the window.
The Commission is proposing a general cap of ten applications per applicant entity, nationwide, alongside an eligibility restriction tying each application to an existing “primary station” that the proposed translator would rebroadcast. Under the proposal, the applicant would need to be the licensee or permittee of an existing NCE FM station, noncommercial AM station, or LPFM station.
The Public Notice also proposes separate caps for LPFM applicants, tracking existing cross-ownership limits. Tribal LPFM applicants would be capped at four applications nationally, while other LPFM applicants would be capped at two. The FCC said that if an applicant exceeds the cap, the Media Bureau would retain the first-filed applications based on receipt date and dismiss the rest.
The FCC framed the proposed limits as a way to curb “gamesmanship,” reduce mutually exclusive “daisy chain” filing conflicts, and speed processing. The Commission pointed to prior NCE FM filing windows that used a ten-application cap, as well as translator filing windows that relied on restrictions to preserve opportunities for other secondary services under the Local Community Radio Act of 2010.
