Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. has received authority from the Federal Communications Commission to operate five new repeater towers in four U.S. cities.

Located in Cincinnati, St. Louis, Miami and Houston (Houston gets two actually), the new repeater towers are rated at 2,000 Watts EiRP of average power.

Sirius applied for the towers back in July. Satellite Radio TechWorld notes that the FCC has reacted fairly quickly since adopting average power, as opposed to peak power, for its standard of power measurement.

These repeaters will operate at or below a power level that has been considered acceptable by both the FCC and WCS licensees. WCS licensees, who consistently have been a thorn in side of Sirius and XM when it comes to licensing matters, have said that repeaters at or below the 2,000 Watt threshold are unobjectionable.

[Satellite Radio TechWorld]