Hi Rod,

Yes Britain is very restrictive when it comes to broadcasting and I guess that's why pirate radio has always been around.

When I lived in Britain it was even more restrictive and I still remember hearing the initial test transmissions of LBC and Capital Radio back around 1973/1974.

Capital Radio beginnings..



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Two great British pop songwriters Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway wrote the original Capital Radio jingles.

Roger Greenaway Interview.



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I think the situation over here comes largely because of the high multi ethnicity immigration with groups/individuals wanting a voice over the air as most of the stations operating in these VHF bands are foreign language..

The real hotbed of activity is largely concentrated in Sydney.

Actually I noticed there's a few stations who haven't renewed their licences, so there's a number of channels available for others who may want to get on the air.

Here are the application forms to apply for a licence.

https://www.acma.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-10/Form%20R057%20-%20Application%20for%20apparatus%20licence.pdf

Additional station Information

https://www.acma.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-11/Additional%20Station%20Information%20-%20For%20the%20purpose%20of%20section%2099%20of%20the%20Radiocommunications%20Act%201992.pdf

Channel bandwidth 25 kHz 16K0F3E
Standard Power 50 watts pY / 83 watts EIRP
in High Density area (i.e. Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane etc)
annual fee Au$2070.00 + $4 tax

If you're in a medium density area it's half that amount and if you're in a low density area it's approximately a tenth of this amount.

If you halve your bandwidth to a 12.5 kHz channel 10K1F3E then the amounts are halved again. I think all the VHF Narrowband stations are using 25 kHz bandwidth 16K0F3E emissions.

So I hope that shines some light on the oddity of 77, 151-152, 173 MHz narrowband broadcasting in Aus.