More cities to have their first FM Radio soon

New Delhi, Dec 11 (UNI) Several more cities in the country will soon have their first FM radio.

Financial bids for remaining 97 channels in the second phase of the expansion of FM radio will be held here on December 17 and January seven, an official said.

As many as 27 prequalified operators of the 35 who applied for these channels would make the bids.

The 97 channels were spread over 48 cities.

During these bids, Dehradun in Uttarakhand may have its first private FM radio station.

No player or its associate or subsidiary can bid for a city in which it is already present. Besides, the total number of channels allocated to an applicant and its related entities shall not exceed the overall limit of 15 per cent of the total channels allocated in the country.

In the second phase of FM Radio privatisation, which was started in 2005, 337 stations were thrown open for licences, and of these 280 were successfully bid, following which, 245 licences were issued.

The remaining 92 stations, along with five others, are now being thrown open for bidding.

Bids for FM radio in smaller cities will be held in the third phase sometime next year.

UNI