Submissions of Interest in New Commercial Sound Broadcasting Services

In accordance with Section 26(1)(a) of the Broadcasting Act 2009 (“2009 Act”), the Authority is currently undertaking the preparatory work for the revision of its Broadcasting Services Strategy (“the current BSS”).  One of the key elements of this work will be the undertaking of a significant piece of research which will provide a comprehensive environmental and economic analysis of the marketplace in Ireland today.

In order to assist with the research project, the Authority is now inviting submissions from parties interested in the provision of new sound broadcasting services.   The submissions of interest received will form part of the research for the revision of the current BSS and any assessment of the submissions will have regard to the Authority’s policy objectives of diversity, sustainability, plurality and the efficient use of spectrum.

In this call for submissions of interest in the provision of new commercial radio services, the Authority is open to suggestions as to the nature of the service/services to be provided and the areas to be served by such additional services.

Information in respect of the proposed service should be presented in the format prescribed in Section 3 of the BAI’s guide for Submissions of Interest in the Provision of New Commercial Analogue Radio Services. 

Interested parties should make their submission in electronic format (PDF) no larger than 8MB in size, to the BAI at bss@bai.ie, or by using the response form below.  A separate submission is required for each proposed new service.

The closing date for making a submission is 12 noon on Thursday, 3^rd August 2017.

All submissions will be made available to the researcher contracted by the BAI to conduct a review of the broadcasting sector, which is due to commence in August 2017.  All submissions will also be made publicly available once they have been considered by the Authority.

The BAI may deny members of the public access to material forming part of a submission of interest where the BAI deems it appropriate that such material should be treated as confidential. Information that may be deemed to be of a confidential nature includes, inter alia, information that is commercially sensitive and information, the disclosure of which, would involve a breach of a confidentiality obligation which the interested party owes to a third party.

Information considered by an interested party to be confidential must be presented in an annex to the submission of interest. The annex should be marked “confidential”. The reasons for believing that the information is confidential must be set out.

Also, information may be made available to the public further to requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2014.  The BAI will consult with the interested party about the publication of any information treated as confidential at the time of submission, before making a decision on any Freedom of Information request received.  Further information on FOI is available here.