Radio
BCI Radio Licensing - Community Radio
The BCI currently licences 19 community radio services and will soon begin the process of re-licensing existing services and a limited number of new services. Further details on these can be found....... Details of current services can be found in the licensed operators page of our website.
The licensing process
Sections 5, 6 and 14 of the Radio and Television Act, 1988 and Section 60 of the Broadcasting Act, 2001 set out the mechanism under which the BCI undertakes the licensing process for community radio services.
In general terms, the process for the issuing of licenses begins with the expressions of interest phase. A report on the expressions received is prepared for the Board of the BCI. Following receipt of the expressions and consideration of the findings by the Commission, a report is then presented to the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) who will indicate to the Commission that it may proceed to seek formal applications in specified franchise areas. Based on the expressions of interest, the Commission will then seek applications for the operation of these services by way of advertisements in the national press and relevant regional press in the franchise areas concerned. The BCI issues a guide to submissions document to assist interested groups. This document is specific to each franchise area, e.g. Waterford, Wicklow, Galway etc. and details how the application should be formatted and the process by which the licence will be awarded. These guides can be found on the Guide to Submissions page of our website.
Please click on the following links to view the information relating to community radio services: