The CRTC last week approved, by majority decision, a CBC application for a broadcasting licence to operate an English-language FM radio station replacing its AM radio station CFFB Iqaluit and to make technical amendments to its existing rebroadcasting transmitter CFFB-FM-3 in Iqaluit.
The commission also approved a related application by the CBC to revoke the broadcasting licence for the existing AM station.
The CBC had indicated any potential failure of CFFB’s current infrastructure could cause the loss of CBC Radio One programming in the region. The purpose of CBC’s applications was to replace CFFB’s timeworn AM transmitter with the FM rebroadcasting transmitter and to convert the station from the AM to the FM band.
The new FM station will serve as the originating station for CFFB’s remaining rebroadcasting transmitters going forward, and the existing CFFB AM transmitter will be decommissioned following a three-month simulcast period.
The CRTC will issue a new FM broadcasting licence to the CBC to continue the operation of CFFB and its remaining rebroadcasting transmitters. The licence will expire on Aug. 31, 2027, which coincides with the expiry date of current CBC licences.
