Proposal to vary the Hamilton licence area plan

On 14 May 2026, we made the Variation to Licence Area Plan – Hamilton – 2026 (No. 1). This involves:

• Making spectrum available for a new FM transmitter at Hamilton for the 3HA commercial radio broadcasting service.
• Varying the technical specifications for the 3HA and 3HFM infill transmitters at Portland.
• Making spectrum available for 3 new FM infill transmitters for the 3HA commercial radio broadcasting service to serve Casterton, Balmoral and Dartmoor.
• Making spectrum available for a new FM infill transmitter for the 3HFM commercial radio broadcasting service to serve Casterton.
• Adding, or including with new technical specifications, an advisory note limiting protection to the suburban grade coverage of 66 dBuv/m, to all 3HA and 3HFM FM infill transmitters.

The proposed changes will enable FM transmission on the 3HA commercial radio broadcasting service in Hamilton. The AM transmission will cease 28 days after the commencement of the new 3HA FM transmission.

We received 2 submissions on this consultation. You can access them at the bottom of this page.

We want to vary the Hamilton licence area plan (LAP). This will involve:

• Enabling the 3HA commercial radio broadcasting service in Hamilton to convert from AM to FM.
• Varying the technical specifications for the existing FM infill transmitter serving Portland for the 3HA commercial radio broadcasting service in the Hamilton RA1 licence area. This includes an increase in power and antenna specifications and varying the technical specifications for the existing 3HFM Portland FM infill transmitter to match.
• Making spectrum available for 3 new FM infill transmitters for the 3HA commercial radio broadcasting service in the Hamilton RA1 licence area to serve Casterton, Balmoral and Dartmoor.
• Making spectrum available for a new FM infill transmitter for the 3HFM commercial radio broadcasting service in the Hamilton RA1 licence area to serve Casterton.
• Adding, or including with new technical specifications, an advisory note limiting protection to the suburban grade coverage of 66 dBuv/m, to all 3HA and 3HFM FM infill transmitters.
• Making other minor amendments to the Hamilton LAP.

You can find full details in the consultation paper and draft instrument in the key documents box above. 

We have re-published the consultation paper due to an error on page 1. 

In the third-last bullet point, the 'cease to have effect date' for the 3HA AM commercial radio broadcasting service should be 28 days, rather than 28 weeks, after the commencement of the new 3HA FM transmission.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused.