FCC Lifts Maximization Application Freeze

    The commission encourages interested broadcasters to file promptly.
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    The FCC Friday lifted the freeze on applications for maximization of DTV signals and for changing channels. The commission had previously predicted it would lift the freeze in mid-August, but it said fast expediting of some 620 post-transition construction permits had opened up the schedule of the Video Division of the Media Bureau.

    The freeze had been put in place to provide a stable database for the post-transition channel-selection process.

    The commission encourages interested broadcasters to file promptly.

    The lifting of the freeze will allow stations that are still licensed for less than their maximized power to apply to upgrade their facilities, increasing coverage in time for the February 2009 shutoff of full-power analog television.

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