Ramadan is coming, and various broadcasters in the United Kingdom want short term radio licenses for the month of fasting, which begins on Wednesday June 17 and ends on Friday July 17. So how is the UK’s telecom regulator allocating them? As the YouTube video below indicates, Ofcom got itself a bunch of lottery-style balls and a bowl, assigned the applicants numbers, and ran a draw.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pido-B4_2TM
In addition, the agency authorized a broadcaster for the Hajj religious festival in the Bradford region, scheduled for September.
I wish our Federal Communications Commission did things like this. I also wish the FCC allocated short-term restricted service licences (SRSLs) for festivals, holidays, and community events, like they do in the UK. Ofcom has published a list of the Ramadan winners here.
