Ms. Magalie Roman Salas
Secretary, Federal Communications Commission
1919 M Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C.. 20554

Re: RM No.9208

Dear Ms. Salas:

I am writing in response and in support of the Petition for Rulemaking Filed on February 20, 1998 regarding low power "community" radio stations, RM No.9208. My interest in radio started when I would accompany my father to work at various radio stations. I am now in high school and want to explore broadcasting as a career. Unfortunately, at this time, my options are extremely limited.

Changes in the Commission's regulations over the past 20 years have prevented the creation of new "10 watt" school radio stations. Also, consolidation of broadcast station ownership has reduced the number of opportunities for new broadcasters.

I live in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. In this area, the technical regulations for non-commercial educational stations prevent the construction of even small non-commercial educational stations with the required minimal power level of 100 watts. With the larger stations devoting less or even no time to local areas, smaller stations with programming designed for neighborhoods are needed to fill the void.

 I support the idea of low power broadcast stations aimed at providing programming to local areas. These small stations could act as a training ground for new broadcasters. Some of the low power stations can be home based providing activities for local citizens. The power of such stations should be sufficient to cover the neighborhood. School based radio stations would be limited in operating hours, where a neighborhood based station would be able to operate for extended hours when most people and students can listen.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on this matter.
 

Respectfully submitted,
 

Oliver B. Mertz