QUAY-FM


QUAY-FM is a VHF-FM broadcasting station on the island of Alderney. It holds the first Community Radio licence in the Channel Islands, granted in 2014 to the Alderney Broadcasting Company.
The scheme under which community radio stations were established in the United Kingdom by Ofcom originally did not apply to the Channel Islands, each of which has separate legal systems. Further legislation was in order needed to enable the establishment of community radio stations in the Islands.
After representations from the QUAY-FM RSL volunteers and the Government of Alderney, this was enabled by the extension, by Order-in-Council of the relevant parts of the UK's Communications Act, 2003 to the Bailiwick of Guernsey.
Applications were invited by Ofcom in December 2013 and closed in March the following year. This application round resulted in a licence being granted to the Alderney Broadcasting Company Limited, a non-profit company incorporated in Alderney, limited by guarantee which was the only applicant within the Bailiwick.

History

The station was founded in the summer of 2000 by a number of volunteers, several of whom had backgrounds in BBC Radio, independent local radio in the UK, and university radio.
The station was originally authorised to transmit on 87.7 MHz FM under a Restricted Service Licence issued by the UK's Radio Authority. It broadcast only during the peak summer vacation period, including Alderney Week. In 2004, a regular Christmas broadcast period was added. The station was available to be activated in times of civil emergency, which happened once during extreme weather conditions in the winter of 2010.
Since the start of 2015, QUAY-FM has broadcast year-round under a Community Radio Licence issued by Ofcom.
Live, year-round transmissions were commenced at 7:00 a.m. on 12 February 2015 by Tim Butler presenting the Early Morning Show.