A number of public notifications will appear in the national press today and tomorrow announcing the Fast Track licence procedure for seven areas.
Today, adverts will invite anyone who wants to apply for contracts held by Cork’s 96FM, C103, Red FM and Radio Kerry to submit a document to the BAI along with €20,000, which is only refundable if an actual application is submitted.
Then, tomorrow, invites will be published for stations operating in Dublin, Counties Carlow & Kilkenny and County Kildare.
The fast-track process can be invoked by the BAI Committee when only one expression of interest is received, from an incumbent sound broadcasting contractor, following a call for expressions of interest. Such a call was made by the BAI in January of this year in relation to twelve sound broadcasting services. In the case of seven of the services in question, one expression of interest was received from the existing contractor.
The Contract Awards Committee will meet in late July to consider any submission received further to the notifications published and to determine the next phase in the licensing process for each of the services.
More details on how to apply can be found here.