The rapid expansion of data centers has sparked battles over electricity, water and land use. Now a Mississippi radio station says the boom has claimed something else: an AM transmitter site. Rainey Broadcasting has told the FCC that development surrounding a massive data center and semiconductor manufacturing project forced gospel WFQY Jackson, MS (970) from its longtime location. Yet the filing has also opened a separate dispute, with a rival broadcaster arguing the Commission should determine whether the station had already been silent before the site was lost.
Rainey Broadcasting has asked the FCC for Special Temporary Authority related to the operations of WFQY, after losing access to its licensed transmitter site. In a filing with the Commission, the company says the Rankin County Board of Supervisors terminated leases around the property because of the development associated with what it describes as a “mega” data center and integrated circuit chip manufacturing plant now under construction.
“The Rankin County Board of Supervisors has removed all leases due to ongoing construction,” consulting engineer William Fulgham writes in the filing…