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FCC's
TV "White Space" Christmas
TV
White Space (TVWS) operations have been in operation for almost a
year with operations limited to Wilmington and Hanover Counties in
North Carolina and Nottoway County, Virginia. That's all about to
change.
On December 6, 2012, the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology
(OET) announced that it is authorizing FCC- approved TVWS database
systems to provide service to unlicensed TVWS devices over the entire
East Coast Region. Specifically, operation is now permitted in New
York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Washington, DC,
Virginia and North Carolina. TVWS devices are unlicensed radio devices
that operate on "unused" spectrum in the TV bands. In order
to protect TV and other licensed operations, TVWS devices must contact
an approved database and provide that database with location information.
The database then determines what channels would be available for
the device.
The FCC rules require that TV white space devices and database systems
protect:
- All broadcast TV stations;
- Fixed broadcast auxiliary links;
- Public safety and other land mobile operations on TV channels
14-20;
- Receive sites of multichannel video programming distributers
(MVPDs) and TV translators; and,
- Low power auxiliary operations (such as Part 74 licensed wireless
microphones and certain approved unlicensed wireless microphones
used at large venues).
Except for the last two categories, all necessary protection data
is extracted from the FCC licensing records. To receive protection
for licensed low power auxiliary operations, such as wireless microphones,
broadcasters must register with a TVWS database operator and provide
contact information and data on where and when the microphone or other
auxiliary equipment will be used. Registration of all licensed auxiliary
operations is free and is valid for up to one year.
OET stated that it anticipates authorizing TVWS devices and operations
on a nationwide basis by mid-January 2013.
To accomplish that, as a companion to this announcement, the FCC's
OET and Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) also announced the
nationwide launch of the FCC's Unlicensed Microphone Registration
System. The unlicensed wireless microphone system had been initially
launched in the East Coast region on September 19, 2012. Unlike Part
74 licensed auxiliary operations that are registered directly with
a TVWS database administrator, unlicensed wireless microphones, such
as those used at a large concert or venue must meet certain minimum
criteria and must be registered and approved by the FCC. Such requests
are also subject to a 30-day public notice and comment process.
Copies of both Public Notices can be found here.
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-12-1957A1.pdf;
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-12-1956A1.pdf
Both the Spectrum
Bridge database and Telecordia
database are now available for licensed wireless microphones and
other types of registrations across the country. It is recommended
that broadcasters consider protecting their studios and other venues
where they regularly use wireless microphones by registering with
a TVWS database administrator. Registrations are free and are valid
for a period of one year. In addition, a registration made with any
TVWS database administrator will protect your operations from any
TVWS device, even devices using other databases. Under the FCC rules,
a registration can be made with any database administrator who will
then provide this information to all other approved administrators.
For convenience, additional detail is reprinted from our February
13, 2012 TV and Radio TechCheck.
Registering your studio and other locations where you regularly use
wireless microphones now will also allow time to put into place procedures
on how this will be done in the future and provide an opportunity
to train station personnel, such as newsroom and ENG staff, with the
processes involved.
The following
steps are recommended:
Inventory all
wireless microphones, IFB and other Low Power Auxiliary equipment
that operates on any frequency between 54 MHz and 698 MHz
- The operating frequency or frequencies of each device should
be noted, recorded and converted to a specific TV channel since
registration is by TV channel, not wireless microphone frequency.
For example, if your microphone operates on the 200 kHz channel
between 502.220 to 502.240 MHz, you would register and request
protection for TV Channel 19 (500-506 MHz). If you have other
equipment that operates on the same TV channel at the same location,
only one registration is required.
- Reminder: Wireless microphone operation above 698 MHz (TV channels
52 to 69) is no longer permitted.
Determine What Channels Are Already Protected
- TV White Spaces devices cannot operate on any channel used for
TV operations in the area. Although in spectrum congested markets,
broadcasters sometimes use low power auxiliary equipment that
operates on channels used for TV operation. There is no need to
register equipment that operates on these channels since unlicensed
devices are already precluded from using these channels. IN
FACT, IT IS STRONGLY RECOMMENDED THAT SUCH CHANNELS NOT BE REGISTERED.
- Under the TV white spaces rules, two TV channels are "reserved"
for wireless microphone operations and may not be used by unlicensed
TV band devices. There is no need to register these channels (however,
the two reserve channels can vary within a station's service area
so make sure that the channels are actually reserved at all locations).
Determine Sites Where Wireless Equipment Is Used On a Regular Basis
- Registrations are based on the site or specific locations where
the equipment is used on a regularly scheduled basis. Protections
are valid only for the specific locations and times that are registered.
- Recommend that ALL stations register their news or other studio
locations if they use wireless microphones or other equipment
in the station or studio on a regular basis.
- Recommend that Stations also register specific sites within
their licensed service area where wireless microphones are
used on a regular basis. Some examples of this include:
o Sites used on a regular basis for weather reports (e.g., regular
weather reports from a park, beach or even outside your studio
can be registered);
o Sites used on a regular basis for traffic reports;
o Sites such as alocal courthouse or government office that
are used on a regular basis for news reports
Special Event Registration
- If you plan to use microphones, IFBs or other equipment at a
planned special event, you need to register the event location
and event times (include planned test, rehearsal times too!) and
request protection on all TV channels on which the equipment will
operate. Some examples of special events include:
o Sporting events
o Concerts
o County fairs
- Events may be a single time event or recurring events such as,
Friday night concerts or football games.
- Protections are valid only for the specific locations and times
that are registered.
Registration and ENG
- There are NO specific provisions for registration of unplanned
operations such as ENG in the FCC's white spaces rules. However,
a number of Database Administrators have indicated that registrations,
in practice, will be considered and propagated to other administrators
in close to real-time. Therefore, registration may offer some
protection even for unplanned ENG operations, especially in situations
where those operations may be on site for several hours.
The registration process is fairly straightforward and uses a simple
menu-driven format.
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