Community Radio
Community radio is a form of broadcasting that transmits radio in the analogue terrestrial network, but only to a small local area.
The broadcast area is often a municipality. You need an ordinary radio to listen to these broadcasts. Community radio is the radio of non-profit associations and has been around since the 1970s. This form of broadcasting means that religious communities, political associations, student unions and similar associations with connections to the broadcasting area can broadcast their own programmes.
Broadcasts are made in the terrestrial FM band, and you need a licence from us as the number of frequencies is limited. Several associations with licences share the same frequency. Besides having a licence from us, you also need a frequency licence from the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority (Post- och telestyrelsen, PTS).
Facts - Community radio
- Number of Community radio broadcasting licences: 555
- Number of Community radio associations: 83
This is required to broadcast Community radio
Common to all who apply for a licence is that they have to be connected to the broadcasting area. To obtain a licence to broadcast community radio, you also need to meet three criteria.
1. You must belong to one of the following categories in order to apply for a licence
- Non-profit associations
- Parishes and religious communities
- Community radio associations, i.e. a consortium of several licence holders in a broadcasting area
2. The association must have a connection with the broadcasting area.
When assessing whether a non-profit association or religious community is connected to the broadcasting area, we take into account the location of the studio and other premises for the association , where the publisher and board members are based and where the association’s general meetings and board meetings are held.
A broadcasting area is usually a municipality, but we can decide to apply a larger broadcasting area if there are special reasons for doing so. Hence licence holders must be prepared to share their broadcasting time if more associations are licensed to broadcast in the same area.
3. Appoint a responsible editor
The association must appoint a responsible editor for the broadcast and register this person together with the application in order to obtain a licence to broadcast.