FCC Upholds 2020 Termination of TV White Spaces Vacant Channel Proposal
The FCC, as expected, denied petitions for reconsideration filed by wireless-mic makers Sennheiser and Shure of a December 2020 order (see 2012080064) closing the agency’s 2015 NPRM on whether to allocate a vacant channel for use by white space devices…
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and wireless microphones (see 2204060068). The companies faced an uphill fight, with strong opposition from NAB and a united commission voting to close the proceeding. “We uphold the conclusions and reasoning in the Termination Order,” said an FCC order listed in Thursday’s Daily Digest. While “we have concluded that we should not proceed with the proposals in this docket, the Commission is committed to supporting white space devices and wireless microphones and has pursued, and continues to pursue, avenues to ensure adequate spectrum availability for the important services they provide,” the order said. The record reflects “a large number of comments” and opposition by NAB, the FCC said: “Generally, the comments are similar statements expressing strong support for the important functions performed by wireless microphones and support for the designation of one UHF channel for wireless microphone use.” After reviewing comments, the FCC found adoption of rules proposed in a 2015 NPRM “would not strike the most reasonable balance that would best serve the public interest,” the order said: “We make this determination in light of other actions taken by the Commission since the 2015 NPRM that will support wireless microphone users and the burdens that the proposal would impose on broadcasters.”