[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]


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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.

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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