Wireless Mic Operation May Get More Complex With TV Repacking

Sennheiser Director-Spectrum Affairs Joe Ciaudelli said with last year's auction over, about half of professional wireless mics must be replaced or modified by July 13, 2020. On that date, mics must stop operating in the "new" 600 MHz band, the FCC says; and it and Ciaudelli note that in some cases, such as with T-Mobile deploying, the devices may need to move sooner. "Spectrum will continue to be available for wireless microphone use on the other TV channels 2-36," on portions of the guard band and duplex gap, and elsewhere "outside of the TV bands," the agency says.

White space proponents want vacant TV channels "largely to provide mobile broadband services to rural parts of the country," and such devices "are inevitably going to be used for a wide array of applications," Ciaudelli said. '"There is the potential for interference." With two white space channels in every market for such mic use, "that's a beautiful thing, but those are going away" due to the TV repacking, he said. After the repacking, portions of the duplex gap and guard band "will be exclusive for wireless mics," he said. Microsoft is a white-space proponent, and broadcasters criticized its plans (see 1803130046). The company and NAB didn't comment.

The Sennheiser representative is eager for the FCC to issue rules on reserving at least one channel per market that could be used by mics and white-space devices and for the agency to improve a database the latter type of products must check before transmitting, he said in an interview. Ciaudelli noted one potential complication is the commission is run by a different chairman, Ajit Pai, than when the incentive auction was devised under Julius Genachowski. "The FCC when they were first devising the incentive auction stated their intention to reserve at least one white space channel in every market for shared use," Ciaudelli said. "They have yet to finalize that proceeding." Incentive Auction Task Force and FCC spokesmen declined to comment.

"That proceeding is critical, not only for wireless mics, but also for white-space devices," said Ciaudelli. "This is like the one issue where the wireless mic community and the white-space community are in harmony." Another "critical issue is that the FCC is intending to expand license eligibility so that legitimate, professional mic operations who do not qualify for licensing also come under the umbrella of licensed eligibility." That could let a venue with fewer than 50 wireless mics be licensed, he said.

Under the expected spectrum sharing regime, accuracy of the white-spaces database is important, Ciaudelli said. "If the data system works the way it's supposed to, I won't be fully concerned. I'm not fully convinced. NAB in particular has pointed out several shortcomings." He's "cautiously optimistic that those potential problems will be solved and other problems will be avoided." Sennheiser seeks "comprehensive testing not only of the whitespace database but also of any whitespace devices that are submitted to the FCC for authorization," Ciaudelli later emailed via a spokesman. "Anytime that more devices are using the same spectrum it increases the potential of interference."

There's concern the FCC may back off a previously stated intent to have white spaces and licensed mic devices share a reserved channel in every market, said Fletcher Heald wireless tech lawyer Mitchell Lazarus, who represents Sennheiser. "They're now telling us in the most congested markets, that may not be possible," said Lazarus of the regulator. He noted in a phone interview that broadcasters want similar spectrum for ATSC 3.0-related purposes (see 1802210064) and low-power TV for separate uses: "We're not the only ones who want that channel."

NAB Show Notebook

Amid increasing competition from traditional and new media, Commissioner Brendan Carr wants "a thorough review" of media regulations, he said Tuesday. "We should be making your jobs as broadcasters easier, not harder." In his view, "for decades," media regulations "languished without update," he said in a speech that largely stuck to prepared remarks, immediately before a panel on broadcasters' response to a 2017 shooting that left 58 music festival goers dead and hundreds injured in Las Vegas. "Rather than removing regulations that became outdated, the FCC demonstrated a tendency to tack on yet another regulation or filing requirement. These outdated rules have taken up too many dollars and too much manpower -- resources that could be going to newsgathering or upgrading facilities" of stations, he said. "Since the start of 2017, the FCC has been engaged in a comprehensive media modernization proceeding. We’re taking a hard look at all our media rules and cutting the red tape." Carr said in coming months, he will continue FCC "work to update our rules and remove barriers that are holding broadcasters back or discouraging investment and innovation." The agency didn't comment immediately.

Releasing draft text of items before commissioners' meetings led interested parties waiting until late in the rulemaking process to visit the eighth floor, Carr said at a Q&A event at the show Tuesday. Carr praised the policy of releasing the items and said it “leveled the playing field” for those lobbying the FCC. Chairman Ajit Pai's process overhauls have been more effective than process change efforts during the previous administration, Carr said, calling the earlier policies “process nowhere.” Under the new early release policy, since parties no longer need to immediately feel out the agency to discover the content of draft items, they wait longer to weigh in, Carr said. The process used to be more “front-loaded,” he said. When stakeholders wait longer, it's harder for the agency to account for their ideas in the rulemaking process, said Carr. Visitors should come in earlier, he said. Commissioners should also weigh in earlier in the rulemaking process, Carr said. “We're not talking to each other early in the process internally.” If all eighth-floor offices put their “asks” into play earlier, there could be a more “robust” internal discussion among commissioners' offices, Carr said. Commissioner Mike O'Rielly has said the process changes lead to fewer lobbying meetings (see 1803270022).

In other NAB Show news Tuesday, on radio and smart speakers: 1804090052; and on ATSC 3.0: 1804100048.