Amendment of the Commission's Rules To Provide for the Preservation of One Vacant Channel in the UHF Television Band for Use by White Space Devices and Wireless Microphones, 9297-9299 [2020-28025]
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 28 / Friday, February 12, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
0.291 of the Commission’s rules, 47 CFR
0.91 and 0.291, amending the
operational date of §§ 54.624, 54.625,
54.626, and 54.627 of the Commission’s
rules, 47 CFR 54.624, 54.625, 54.626,
and 54.627, as indicated herein.
7. It is further ordered that, pursuant
to § 1.102(b)(1) of the Commission’s
rules, 47 CFR 1.102(b)(1), the order shall
be effective March 15, 2021.
Federal Communications Commission.
Cheryl L. Callahan,
Assistant Chief, Telecommunications Access
Policy Division Wireline Competition Bureau.
Editorial note: This document was
received for publication at the Office of the
Federal Register on January 8, 2021.
[FR Doc. 2021–00588 Filed 2–11–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712–01–P
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS
COMMISSION
47 CFR Parts 73 and 74
[MB Docket Nos. 15–146; GN Docket No.
12–268; FCC 20–175; FRS 17303]
Amendment of the Commission’s
Rules To Provide for the Preservation
of One Vacant Channel in the UHF
Television Band for Use by White
Space Devices and Wireless
Microphones
Federal Communications
Commission.
ACTION: Final rule.
AGENCY:
In this Report and Order
(Order), the Federal Communications
Commission declines to adopt rules
proposed in the Commission’s 2015
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 30 FCC
Rcd 6711 (2015) (2015 NPRM) in this
proceeding and, therefore, terminates
the proceeding. While the Commission
continues to support unlicensed white
space devices and wireless microphone
user operations and continues to believe
they serve important interests, based on
the record of this proceeding and in
light of other actions it has taken during
the years since the rules were proposed,
coupled with the increased burden that
its 2015 proposal would place on the
use by broadcasters of spectrum in the
more consolidated TV band that now
exists following the Incentive Auction,
the Commission finds that the rules
proposed in the 2015 NPRM would not
serve the public interest. In reaching
this conclusion, the Commission finds
other actions it has taken since the 2015
NPRM to support white space devices
and wireless microphones are the
preferred avenues for the continued
SUMMARY:
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16:41 Feb 11, 2021
Jkt 253001
support of these services. Accordingly,
the Commission terminates this docket.
DATES: The decision is effective
February 12, 2021.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Shaun Maher, Shaun.Maher@fcc.gov of
the Media Bureau, (202) 418–2324.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a
summary of the Commission’s Report
and Order (R&O), MB Docket Nos. 15–
146; GN Docket No. 12–268; FCC 20–
175, adopted on December 8, 2020 and
released December 9, 2020. The full text
of this document is available for
download at https://www.fcc.gov/edocs.
To request materials in accessible
formats for people with disabilities
(braille, large print, electronic files,
audio format), send an email to fcc504@
fcc.gov or call the Consumer &
Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202–
418–0530 (voice), 202–418–0432 (tty).
Synopsis
1. In this Order, the Commission
declines to adopt the proposals in the
2015 NPRM finding that support of
white space device and wireless
microphone users is now more
effectively being achieved through other
Commission proceedings, and, as a
result, the proposals to preserve a
vacant channel for shared use by white
space devices and wireless microphone
operations do not serve the public
interest.
2. The Commission finds that the
spectrum landscape has changed
significantly since 2015. Without
question, today’s TV band is smaller
and more densely packed than it was at
the time the Commission adopted the
2015 NPRM. To illustrate, at the time
the 2015 NPRM was adopted, there were
1,384 full power and Class A televisions
stations operating on UHF channels 21
through 51 for an average of 46 stations
per channel. Today, there are 1,088 such
stations operating on channels 21
through 36, an average of 68 stations per
channel, many with expanded facilities.
In addition, the TV band is more
densely packed as a result of changes
made by stations after the Incentive
Auction and because reverse auction
winners continue to operate in the new
TV band. Analyses using the
Commission’s TVStudy software reveal
that there are numerous major
metropolitan areas in the United States
that have no vacant, 6 MHz channels.
This reality undermines the
Commission’s goal of creating a
nationwide solution as proponents of
the 2015 NPRM proposal argued on
behalf of the proposal on the grounds
that such a nationwide vacant channel
was essential.
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9297
3. Subsequent to adoption of the 2015
NPRM, the Commission took a number
of significant steps to ensure that white
space device and wireless microphone
operations can flourish. In responding
to the 2015 NPRM, white space device
proponents cited the need to create
certainty that vacant channels would be
available for their use in order to
promote greater innovation in new
devices and services, including
increased access to broadband services
across the country. The Commission
believes that its more recent actions in
other proceedings have helped to create
such certainty by allowing for more
robust service and efficient spectral use
in the post-Incentive Auction television
band as well as in the 600 MHz guard
bands and 600 MHz wireless services
and by revising the rules to allow for
enhanced fixed white space device
operations in rural areas. The
Commission finds that these actions
have achieved the benefits sought by
white space device proponents and
obviate the need to impose the
burdensome vacant channel
preservation requirement on television
broadcasters. Similarly, when
responding to the 2015 NPRM, wireless
microphone users expressed concerns
about the reduced amount of spectrum
that would be available for use by
wireless microphones in the repacked
TV bands, and they cited to such
concerns to support their call to
preserve a vacant channel for shared use
with white space devices. Once again,
the Commission believes that the steps
it has taken in other proceedings since
the 2015 NPRM will ensure that
wireless microphone operators have
access to sufficient spectrum, including
spectrum outside of the broadcast
television band, to meet their needs.
These actions underscore the
conclusion that the regulatory approach
proposed in the 2015 NPRM is no longer
needed and is outweighed by the
burden that such an action would place
on the broadcast users of the TV band.
4. White Space Devices. In August
2015, recognizing the significantly
altered regulatory landscape for
unlicensed white space devices in the
broadcast television bands, the
Commission adopted its White Spaces
R&O, 30 FCC Rcd 9551. In that
proceeding, the Commission modified
several rules to allow for more robust
service and efficient spectral use in the
post-Incentive Auction television band
as well as in the 600 MHz guard bands
and 600 MHz wireless services band
that would be created as a result of
repurposing the television bands
following the Incentive Auction.
E:\FR\FM\12FER1.SGM
12FER1
9298
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 28 / Friday, February 12, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
Specifically, the Commission enabled
lower powered operations closer to
television stations, as well as higher
powered operations in less-congested
rural areas that enhance broadband
services in these areas. The Commission
also established rules permitting white
space device operations on spectrum
outside of the broadcast television band
in the 600 MHz guard bands (including
duplex gap) and the 600 MHz wireless
service band, and on channel 37.
5. In the Commission’s White Spaces
Reconsideration Order, 34 FCC Rcd
1827, in that proceeding, it took
additional action to promote white
spaces operations. Recognizing that
white space device operations served to
provide vital links for broadband
services to Americans especially in rural
and underserved areas, the Commission
increased the maximum permissible
fixed white space device antenna height
above ground level in less congested
areas such as rural areas.
6. In 2020, the Commission initiated
a new proceeding proposing actions to
‘‘spur the continued growth of the white
space device ecosystem’’ that had been
evolving. In the White Spaces NPRM, 35
FCC Rcd 2101, the Commission focused
chiefly on providing additional
opportunities for unlicensed white
space devices operating in the broadcast
television bands to deliver wireless
broadband services in rural and
underserved areas and applications
associated with the Internet of Things
(IoT). The Commission initiated the
proceeding largely in response to
Microsoft’s 2019 petition for
rulemaking, which had proposed
revisions to promote greater flexibility
for white space device operations in
rural areas; which had garnered broad
support from many white space device
proponents. On October 28, 2020, the
Commission issued a Report and Order
and Further Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking, FCC 20–156, adopting new
targeted rules with this focus, which
will benefit American consumers in
rural and underserved areas while
protecting broadcast television stations
and other protected services initiated
from harmful interference. Specifically,
the Commission permitted higher power
and higher antennas for fixed white
space devices in ‘‘less congested’’
geographic areas where there continue
to be vacant TV channels available for
use by white space devices (and
wireless microphones), and permitted
higher power mobile operation within
‘‘geo-fenced’’ areas in these ‘‘less
congested’’ areas. The Commission also
adopted rule changes designed to
facilitate the development of new and
innovative narrowband IoT services in
VerDate Sep<11>2014
16:41 Feb 11, 2021
Jkt 253001
these bands. Finally, the Commission
sought comment on whether it should
permit use of a terrain-based model
(e.g., Longley-Rice Irregular Terrain
Model) when determining available TV
channels for white space device
operations, which if adopted could
potentially expand the areas available
for white space device operations in this
spectrum.
7. In the 2015 vacant channel
proceeding, white space device
proponents argued that the proposals in
the 2015 NPRM would ensure that the
public has access to these services and
would help promote investment and
innovation in these technologies. The
Commission’s more recent actions,
however, reflect the subsequent
evolution of white space device
operations, as indicated by support from
major white space device proponents
over the last few years, to focus on rural
and underserved areas where a
substantial amount of spectrum remains
available for white space devices after
repacking. The Commission finds that
these alternative actions are an effective
means for the Commission to support
white space device operations and the
white space device ecosystem as it has
evolved since 2015. We conclude that
the rationale behind the Commission’s
tentative conclusion concerning the
need to preserve a vacant channel in the
broadcast television band to provide
certainty for the white space device
industry no longer holds.
8. Wireless microphones. In 2015, in
a proceeding that had been initiated to
explore steps to address wireless
microphone users’ long-term needs
following the Incentive Auction and
repacking of the broadcast television
band, the Commission adopted several
changes to ensure sufficient spectrum
would continue to available for wireless
microphone use. With respect to the
reconfigured broadcast television band
following the Incentive Auction and
repacking, the Commission revised its
rules to provide more opportunities for
wireless microphones to access
spectrum by allowing greater use of the
VHF broadcast television channels and
more co-channel operations with
television stations, and adopted more
efficient analog and digital technical
standards to ensure more efficient use of
the available spectrum. The
Commission also expanded eligibility
for the licensed use of the 600 MHz
duplex gap to all entities now eligible to
hold wireless microphone licenses to
use television band spectrum. The
Commission also took several actions to
promote use of spectrum bands outside
of the broadcast television band,
including providing new opportunities
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for use in UHF spectrum in the 900
MHz band.
9. In 2017, in the Wireless
Microphones Reconsideration Order
and Further Notice, 32 FCC Rcd 6077,
the Commission furthered its goal of
promoting wireless microphone
operations and ensuring sufficient
spectrum would be available following
the Incentive Auction and repacking
process. Specifically, it made technical
revisions to rules it had adopted for
both licensed and unlicensed wireless
microphone operations in the TV bands,
and in the 600 MHz guard band and
duplex gap, as well as to rules for
licensed wireless microphone
operations in several frequency bands
outside of the TV and 600 MHz bands,
including the UHF spectrum in the 900
MHz band. It also issued a Further
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking
to ensure that certain professional
theater, music, performing arts, or
similar organizations that currently
operate wireless microphones on an
unlicensed basis can obtain licenses to
operate in the broadcast television
bands as well as other frequency bands,
including UHF spectrum in the 900
MHz band, if necessary, to ensure that
they can provide the public interest
benefits of significantly enhanced event
productions to the American people.
10. The Commission is not persuaded
by wireless microphone commenters in
the dormant docket proceeding who
maintain that the Commission should
refresh the record in this proceeding
and adopt the vacant channel
preservation proposals. The
Commission finds that these proposals
are no longer necessary to further their
stated objective.
11. Public Interest Analysis. While the
Commission recognizes the important
benefits provided by white space
devices and wireless microphones in
the TV bands, it finds that the other
actions that the Commission has taken
to support these users subsequent to
issuance of the 2015 NPRM provide a
better alternative for addressing their
needs than through efforts to preserve a
vacant channel. Moreover, the
Commission can no longer say that the
2015 NPRM’s proposals ‘‘will not
significantly burden broadcast
applicants.’’ NAB has stated the vacant
channel proposals ‘‘would impose
significant burdens on broadcasters both
by restricting innovation and by
imposing new and costly administrative
burdens on broadcasters seeking to
construct new or modified facilities.’’
The Commission agrees. In light of
changed circumstances the Commission
concludes that it should not deviate
from previous Commission decisions
E:\FR\FM\12FER1.SGM
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 28 / Friday, February 12, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
that use of the TV bands by primary and
secondary broadcast users have priority
over wireless microphones and white
space devices. The Commission believes
that preserving robust over-the-air
broadcast television service remains an
important spectrum allocation priority,
especially to rural areas without
adequate MVPD and broadband service
alternatives. In addition, the
Commission has recognized the promise
of next generation ATSC 3.0 service by
over-the-air television broadcasters to
expand the universe of potential uses of
broadcast spectrum capacity for new
and innovative services in ways that
will complement the nation’s
burgeoning 5G networks and usher in a
new wave of innovation and
opportunity. As NAB and a number of
broadcasters noted in their 2015
comments, adoption of the proposed
rules would serve to freeze full power
stations in place and hamstring their
ability to expand or innovate to better
serve their viewers. Having restructured
the TV band, the Commission finds that
to now adopt a requirement that
primary and/or secondary television
stations protect spectrum availability for
white space devices and wireless
microphones in the smaller, more
densely packed television band, would
not serve the public interest. Moreover,
NAB points out that the proposals
would require ‘‘novel engineering
studies’’ that ‘‘would be expensive and
time-consuming, particularly for smaller
broadcasters’’ where ‘‘the cost of
conducting such studies is likely to be
multiples of current engineering design
costs.’’ Significantly, television stations
would bear the administrative burden of
studying and proving the availability of
channels for other users in order to have
an application that is otherwise in the
public interest granted—both in
congested areas where a vacant channel
may not be available in the television
band and in less congested areas where
more spectrum is available such that
analysis is not warranted. Therefore, the
Commission finds that, on balance,
seeking to preserve a vacant channel for
shared use by white space devices and
wireless microphone operations at this
time, considering all of the actions that
the Commission has taken since 2015 to
promote those users’ interests, are
outweighed by the burdens of the
proposals on broadcasters and the
Commission terminates the proceeding.
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16:41 Feb 11, 2021
Jkt 253001
Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary.
Editorial Note: The Office of the Federal
Register received this document on December
15, 2020.
[FR Doc. 2020–28025 Filed 2–11–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712–01–P
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS
COMMISSION
47 CFR Chapter I
[CG Docket No. 02–278; FCC 20–182; FRS
17356]
Government and Government
Contractor Calls Under the Telephone
Consumer Protection Act of 1991
Federal Communications
Commission.
ACTION: Adjudicatory ruling.
AGENCY:
In this document, the
Commission finds that state government
callers, like federal government callers,
are not ‘‘persons’’ for purposes of the
Telephone Consumer Protection Act
(TCPA) because they are sovereign
entities. The Commission also clarifies
that a local government caller is a
‘‘person’’ subject to the TCPA. On
reconsideration of the Broadnet
Declaratory Ruling, the Commission
reverses its previous order to the extent
that it provided that a contractor making
calls on behalf of the federal
government was not a ‘‘person’’ subject
to the restrictions of the TCPA. The
Commission also clarifies that a state or
local government contractor, like a
federal government contractor, is a
‘‘person’’ and thus not exempt from the
TCPA’s restrictions. This action was
taken in response to petitions that
sought clarification of these issues and
removes any uncertainty on when
governmental callers or contractors
making calls on their behalf are required
to obtain the prior express consent of
called parties.
DATES: Effective February 12, 2021.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Richard D. Smith of the Consumer and
Governmental Affairs Bureau at (717)
338–2797 or Richard.Smith@fcc.gov; or
Kristi Thornton at (202) 418–2467 or
Kristi.Thornton@fcc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a
summary of the Commission’s Order on
Reconsideration, document FCC 20–
182, released on December 14, 2020.
The full text of document FCC 20–182
is available online at https://
docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC20-182A1.pdf. To request this document
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
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9299
in accessible formats for people with
disabilities (e.g., Braille, large print,
electronic files, audio format) or to
request reasonable accommodations
(e.g., accessible format documents, sign
language interpreters, CART), send an
email to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the
FCC’s Consumer and Governmental
Affairs Bureau at (202) 418–0530
(voice).
Synopsis
1. On reconsideration of the Broadnet
Declaratory Ruling, the Commission
reverses its previous order to the extent
that it provided that a contractor making
calls on behalf of the federal
government was not a ‘‘person’’ subject
to the restrictions in section 227(b)(1) of
the TCPA. The Commission also
clarifies that a state government caller
making calls in the conduct of official
government business is not a ‘‘person’’
subject to section 227(b)(1) of the TCPA,
while a state or local government
contractor, like a federal contractor, is a
‘‘person’’ and thus not exempt from the
TCPA’s restrictions. Finally, the
Commission clarifies that a local
government is a ‘‘person’’ subject to the
TCPA. As such, the Commission grants
in part the National Consumer Law
Center (NCLC) petition for
reconsideration, denies the Professional
Services Council (PSC) petition for
reconsideration, reverses the
Commission’s Broadnet Declaratory
Ruling in part, and grants in part and
denies in part Broadnet’s petition for
declaratory ruling.
A. Federal Contractors are Subject to
Section 227(b)(1) of the TCPA
2. The Commission finds that a
federal government contractor is a
‘‘person’’ under section 227(b)(1). The
term ‘‘person’’ as used in the TCPA and
defined in the Communications Act
(Act) expressly includes an ‘‘individual,
partnership, association, joint-stock
company, trust, or corporation’’ ‘‘unless
the context otherwise requires.’’ Every
federal contractor, including those
acting as agents, falls within one of
these categories. And, unlike the federal
government itself, there is no
longstanding presumption that a federal
contractor is not a ‘‘person.’’ Nor does
the Commission find any ‘‘context that
otherwise requires’’ it to ignore the
express language of the Act’s definition
of the term ‘‘person’’ in this situation.
Absent any applicable presumption to
the contrary, the express definition of
‘‘person’’ as contained in the Act is
controlling.
3. Federal government contractors
may obtain consumers’ prior express
consent to make calls covered by the
E:\FR\FM\12FER1.SGM
12FER1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 28 (Friday, February 12, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 9297-9299]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-28025]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
47 CFR Parts 73 and 74
[MB Docket Nos. 15-146; GN Docket No. 12-268; FCC 20-175; FRS 17303]
Amendment of the Commission's Rules To Provide for the
Preservation of One Vacant Channel in the UHF Television Band for Use
by White Space Devices and Wireless Microphones
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Final rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In this Report and Order (Order), the Federal Communications
Commission declines to adopt rules proposed in the Commission's 2015
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 30 FCC Rcd 6711 (2015) (2015 NPRM) in
this proceeding and, therefore, terminates the proceeding. While the
Commission continues to support unlicensed white space devices and
wireless microphone user operations and continues to believe they serve
important interests, based on the record of this proceeding and in
light of other actions it has taken during the years since the rules
were proposed, coupled with the increased burden that its 2015 proposal
would place on the use by broadcasters of spectrum in the more
consolidated TV band that now exists following the Incentive Auction,
the Commission finds that the rules proposed in the 2015 NPRM would not
serve the public interest. In reaching this conclusion, the Commission
finds other actions it has taken since the 2015 NPRM to support white
space devices and wireless microphones are the preferred avenues for
the continued support of these services. Accordingly, the Commission
terminates this docket.
DATES: The decision is effective February 12, 2021.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shaun Maher, [email protected] of
the Media Bureau, (202) 418-2324.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commission's Report
and Order (R&O), MB Docket Nos. 15-146; GN Docket No. 12-268; FCC 20-
175, adopted on December 8, 2020 and released December 9, 2020. The
full text of this document is available for download at https://www.fcc.gov/edocs. To request materials in accessible formats for
people with disabilities (braille, large print, electronic files, audio
format), send an email to [email protected] or call the Consumer &
Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202-418-0530 (voice), 202-418-0432
(tty).
Synopsis
1. In this Order, the Commission declines to adopt the proposals in
the 2015 NPRM finding that support of white space device and wireless
microphone users is now more effectively being achieved through other
Commission proceedings, and, as a result, the proposals to preserve a
vacant channel for shared use by white space devices and wireless
microphone operations do not serve the public interest.
2. The Commission finds that the spectrum landscape has changed
significantly since 2015. Without question, today's TV band is smaller
and more densely packed than it was at the time the Commission adopted
the 2015 NPRM. To illustrate, at the time the 2015 NPRM was adopted,
there were 1,384 full power and Class A televisions stations operating
on UHF channels 21 through 51 for an average of 46 stations per
channel. Today, there are 1,088 such stations operating on channels 21
through 36, an average of 68 stations per channel, many with expanded
facilities. In addition, the TV band is more densely packed as a result
of changes made by stations after the Incentive Auction and because
reverse auction winners continue to operate in the new TV band.
Analyses using the Commission's TVStudy software reveal that there are
numerous major metropolitan areas in the United States that have no
vacant, 6 MHz channels. This reality undermines the Commission's goal
of creating a nationwide solution as proponents of the 2015 NPRM
proposal argued on behalf of the proposal on the grounds that such a
nationwide vacant channel was essential.
3. Subsequent to adoption of the 2015 NPRM, the Commission took a
number of significant steps to ensure that white space device and
wireless microphone operations can flourish. In responding to the 2015
NPRM, white space device proponents cited the need to create certainty
that vacant channels would be available for their use in order to
promote greater innovation in new devices and services, including
increased access to broadband services across the country. The
Commission believes that its more recent actions in other proceedings
have helped to create such certainty by allowing for more robust
service and efficient spectral use in the post-Incentive Auction
television band as well as in the 600 MHz guard bands and 600 MHz
wireless services and by revising the rules to allow for enhanced fixed
white space device operations in rural areas. The Commission finds that
these actions have achieved the benefits sought by white space device
proponents and obviate the need to impose the burdensome vacant channel
preservation requirement on television broadcasters. Similarly, when
responding to the 2015 NPRM, wireless microphone users expressed
concerns about the reduced amount of spectrum that would be available
for use by wireless microphones in the repacked TV bands, and they
cited to such concerns to support their call to preserve a vacant
channel for shared use with white space devices. Once again, the
Commission believes that the steps it has taken in other proceedings
since the 2015 NPRM will ensure that wireless microphone operators have
access to sufficient spectrum, including spectrum outside of the
broadcast television band, to meet their needs. These actions
underscore the conclusion that the regulatory approach proposed in the
2015 NPRM is no longer needed and is outweighed by the burden that such
an action would place on the broadcast users of the TV band.
4. White Space Devices. In August 2015, recognizing the
significantly altered regulatory landscape for unlicensed white space
devices in the broadcast television bands, the Commission adopted its
White Spaces R&O, 30 FCC Rcd 9551. In that proceeding, the Commission
modified several rules to allow for more robust service and efficient
spectral use in the post-Incentive Auction television band as well as
in the 600 MHz guard bands and 600 MHz wireless services band that
would be created as a result of repurposing the television bands
following the Incentive Auction.
[[Page 9298]]
Specifically, the Commission enabled lower powered operations closer to
television stations, as well as higher powered operations in less-
congested rural areas that enhance broadband services in these areas.
The Commission also established rules permitting white space device
operations on spectrum outside of the broadcast television band in the
600 MHz guard bands (including duplex gap) and the 600 MHz wireless
service band, and on channel 37.
5. In the Commission's White Spaces Reconsideration Order, 34 FCC
Rcd 1827, in that proceeding, it took additional action to promote
white spaces operations. Recognizing that white space device operations
served to provide vital links for broadband services to Americans
especially in rural and underserved areas, the Commission increased the
maximum permissible fixed white space device antenna height above
ground level in less congested areas such as rural areas.
6. In 2020, the Commission initiated a new proceeding proposing
actions to ``spur the continued growth of the white space device
ecosystem'' that had been evolving. In the White Spaces NPRM, 35 FCC
Rcd 2101, the Commission focused chiefly on providing additional
opportunities for unlicensed white space devices operating in the
broadcast television bands to deliver wireless broadband services in
rural and underserved areas and applications associated with the
Internet of Things (IoT). The Commission initiated the proceeding
largely in response to Microsoft's 2019 petition for rulemaking, which
had proposed revisions to promote greater flexibility for white space
device operations in rural areas; which had garnered broad support from
many white space device proponents. On October 28, 2020, the Commission
issued a Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking,
FCC 20-156, adopting new targeted rules with this focus, which will
benefit American consumers in rural and underserved areas while
protecting broadcast television stations and other protected services
initiated from harmful interference. Specifically, the Commission
permitted higher power and higher antennas for fixed white space
devices in ``less congested'' geographic areas where there continue to
be vacant TV channels available for use by white space devices (and
wireless microphones), and permitted higher power mobile operation
within ``geo-fenced'' areas in these ``less congested'' areas. The
Commission also adopted rule changes designed to facilitate the
development of new and innovative narrowband IoT services in these
bands. Finally, the Commission sought comment on whether it should
permit use of a terrain-based model (e.g., Longley-Rice Irregular
Terrain Model) when determining available TV channels for white space
device operations, which if adopted could potentially expand the areas
available for white space device operations in this spectrum.
7. In the 2015 vacant channel proceeding, white space device
proponents argued that the proposals in the 2015 NPRM would ensure that
the public has access to these services and would help promote
investment and innovation in these technologies. The Commission's more
recent actions, however, reflect the subsequent evolution of white
space device operations, as indicated by support from major white space
device proponents over the last few years, to focus on rural and
underserved areas where a substantial amount of spectrum remains
available for white space devices after repacking. The Commission finds
that these alternative actions are an effective means for the
Commission to support white space device operations and the white space
device ecosystem as it has evolved since 2015. We conclude that the
rationale behind the Commission's tentative conclusion concerning the
need to preserve a vacant channel in the broadcast television band to
provide certainty for the white space device industry no longer holds.
8. Wireless microphones. In 2015, in a proceeding that had been
initiated to explore steps to address wireless microphone users' long-
term needs following the Incentive Auction and repacking of the
broadcast television band, the Commission adopted several changes to
ensure sufficient spectrum would continue to available for wireless
microphone use. With respect to the reconfigured broadcast television
band following the Incentive Auction and repacking, the Commission
revised its rules to provide more opportunities for wireless
microphones to access spectrum by allowing greater use of the VHF
broadcast television channels and more co-channel operations with
television stations, and adopted more efficient analog and digital
technical standards to ensure more efficient use of the available
spectrum. The Commission also expanded eligibility for the licensed use
of the 600 MHz duplex gap to all entities now eligible to hold wireless
microphone licenses to use television band spectrum. The Commission
also took several actions to promote use of spectrum bands outside of
the broadcast television band, including providing new opportunities
for use in UHF spectrum in the 900 MHz band.
9. In 2017, in the Wireless Microphones Reconsideration Order and
Further Notice, 32 FCC Rcd 6077, the Commission furthered its goal of
promoting wireless microphone operations and ensuring sufficient
spectrum would be available following the Incentive Auction and
repacking process. Specifically, it made technical revisions to rules
it had adopted for both licensed and unlicensed wireless microphone
operations in the TV bands, and in the 600 MHz guard band and duplex
gap, as well as to rules for licensed wireless microphone operations in
several frequency bands outside of the TV and 600 MHz bands, including
the UHF spectrum in the 900 MHz band. It also issued a Further Notice
of Proposed Rulemaking seeking to ensure that certain professional
theater, music, performing arts, or similar organizations that
currently operate wireless microphones on an unlicensed basis can
obtain licenses to operate in the broadcast television bands as well as
other frequency bands, including UHF spectrum in the 900 MHz band, if
necessary, to ensure that they can provide the public interest benefits
of significantly enhanced event productions to the American people.
10. The Commission is not persuaded by wireless microphone
commenters in the dormant docket proceeding who maintain that the
Commission should refresh the record in this proceeding and adopt the
vacant channel preservation proposals. The Commission finds that these
proposals are no longer necessary to further their stated objective.
11. Public Interest Analysis. While the Commission recognizes the
important benefits provided by white space devices and wireless
microphones in the TV bands, it finds that the other actions that the
Commission has taken to support these users subsequent to issuance of
the 2015 NPRM provide a better alternative for addressing their needs
than through efforts to preserve a vacant channel. Moreover, the
Commission can no longer say that the 2015 NPRM's proposals ``will not
significantly burden broadcast applicants.'' NAB has stated the vacant
channel proposals ``would impose significant burdens on broadcasters
both by restricting innovation and by imposing new and costly
administrative burdens on broadcasters seeking to construct new or
modified facilities.'' The Commission agrees. In light of changed
circumstances the Commission concludes that it should not deviate from
previous Commission decisions
[[Page 9299]]
that use of the TV bands by primary and secondary broadcast users have
priority over wireless microphones and white space devices. The
Commission believes that preserving robust over-the-air broadcast
television service remains an important spectrum allocation priority,
especially to rural areas without adequate MVPD and broadband service
alternatives. In addition, the Commission has recognized the promise of
next generation ATSC 3.0 service by over-the-air television
broadcasters to expand the universe of potential uses of broadcast
spectrum capacity for new and innovative services in ways that will
complement the nation's burgeoning 5G networks and usher in a new wave
of innovation and opportunity. As NAB and a number of broadcasters
noted in their 2015 comments, adoption of the proposed rules would
serve to freeze full power stations in place and hamstring their
ability to expand or innovate to better serve their viewers. Having
restructured the TV band, the Commission finds that to now adopt a
requirement that primary and/or secondary television stations protect
spectrum availability for white space devices and wireless microphones
in the smaller, more densely packed television band, would not serve
the public interest. Moreover, NAB points out that the proposals would
require ``novel engineering studies'' that ``would be expensive and
time-consuming, particularly for smaller broadcasters'' where ``the
cost of conducting such studies is likely to be multiples of current
engineering design costs.'' Significantly, television stations would
bear the administrative burden of studying and proving the availability
of channels for other users in order to have an application that is
otherwise in the public interest granted--both in congested areas where
a vacant channel may not be available in the television band and in
less congested areas where more spectrum is available such that
analysis is not warranted. Therefore, the Commission finds that, on
balance, seeking to preserve a vacant channel for shared use by white
space devices and wireless microphone operations at this time,
considering all of the actions that the Commission has taken since 2015
to promote those users' interests, are outweighed by the burdens of the
proposals on broadcasters and the Commission terminates the proceeding.
Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary.
Editorial Note: The Office of the Federal Register received this
document on December 15, 2020.
[FR Doc. 2020-28025 Filed 2-11-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P
