[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 63 (Friday, April 1, 2022)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 18986-18993]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-06503]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Parts 15

[ET Docket No. 14-165, GN Docket No. 12-268, ET Docket No. 20-36 and ET 
Docket No. 04-186; FCC 22-6; FRS 78919]


Unlicensed Operations in the Television Bands, Repurposed 600 MHz 
Band, 600 MHz Guard Bands and Duplex Gap, and Channel 37; Expanding the 
Economic and Innovation Opportunities of Spectrum Through Incentive 
Auctions; Unlicensed White Space Device Operations in the Television 
Bands

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: In this document, the Federal Communications Commission 
(Commission) adopts orders resolving pending issues associated with 
white space devices and databases. The actions being taken will provide 
additional certainty to white space device users, manufacturers and 
database administrators to enable unlicensed white space devices to 
operate efficiently and protect other spectrum users, in particular 
wireless microphone users. In the Second Order on Reconsideration, the 
Commission addresses petitions for reconsideration of the requirement 
established in the Commission's White Spaces Report and Order that 
white space databases ``push'' channel availability changes to white 
space devices when a licensed wireless microphone operator registers in 
the white space database to use a TV channel. The Commission removes 
the push notification requirement and replaces it with a simpler rule 
that requires certain white space devices to re-check the database more 
frequently. In the Order, the Commission denies a petition for 
reconsideration of the Office of Engineering and Technology's (OET's) 
designation of Nominet UK (now RED Technologies) as a white space 
database administrator.

DATES: Effective May 2, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Hugh VanTuyl, Office of Engineering 
and Technology, (202) 418-7506 or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commission's 
document, Second Order on Reconsideration and Order, ET Docket No. 14-
165, GN Docket No. 12-268, ET Docket No. 20-36 and ET Docket No. 04-
186; FCC 22-6, adopted January 25, 2022 and released January 26, 2022. 
The full text of this document is available for public inspection and 
can be downloaded at: https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-takes-action-unlicensed-white-space-device-database-issues. When the FCC 
Headquarters reopens to the public, the full text of this document also 
will be available for public inspection and copying during regular 
business hours in the FCC Reference Center, 45 L Street NE, Washington, 
DC 20554. Alternative formats are available for people with 
disabilities (Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format) by 
sending an email to [email protected] or calling the Commission's Consumer 
and Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice), (202) 418-
0432 (TTY).

Procedural Matters

    Final Regulatory Flexibility Analyses. The Regulatory Flexibility 
Act of 1980 (RFA) requires that an agency prepare a regulatory 
flexibility analysis for notice and comment rulemakings, unless the 
agency certifies that ``the rule will not, if promulgated, have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities.'' Accordingly, the Commission has prepared a Final Regulatory 
Flexibility Analysis (FRFA) concerning the possible impact of the rule 
changes contained in this Second Order on Reconsideration on small 
entities. As required by the RFA, an Initial Regulatory Flexibility 
Analysis (IRFA) was incorporated in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 
(NPRM) (86 FR 38969, July 23, 2021). The Commission sought written 
public comment on the proposals in the NPRM, including comments on the 
IRFA. No comments were filed addressing the IRFA. Accordingly, the 
Commission has

[[Page 18987]]

prepared a Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (FRFA) concerning the 
possible impact of the rule changes contained in the document on small 
entities. The present FRFA conforms to the RFA and can be viewed under 
Appendix C of the item at: https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-takes-action-unlicensed-white-space-device-database-issues.
    Paperwork Reduction Act. This document does not contain new or 
modified information collection requirements subject to the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), Public Law 104-13. In addition, therefore, 
it does not contain any new or modified information collection burden 
for small business concerns with fewer than 25 employees, pursuant to 
the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, Public Law 107-198, 
see 44 U.S.C. 3506(copyright)(4).
    Congressional Review Act. The Commission has determined, and the 
Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, 
Office of Management and Budget, concurs, that this rule is ``non-
major'' under the Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 804(2). The 
Commission will send a copy of this Second Order on Reconsideration and 
Order to Congress and the Government Accountability Office pursuant to 
5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A).

Synopsis

Background

    The existing rules prescribe communications between white space 
devices and a white space database to provide interference protection 
to other spectrum users--both to authorized services and protected 
users generally and to licensed wireless microphone operations that are 
registered at particular times and locations in the database. To 
provide general protection to authorized services (e.g., primary and 
secondary broadcast television users in the TV bands, wireless service 
providers in the 600 MHz service band) and protected users (e.g., TV 
translator receive sites and Multiple Video Program Distributor (MVPD) 
receive sites), white space devices must re-check the database at least 
once per day to obtain the list of available channels at the location 
where the device operates. The Commission established these timeframes 
because most protected services listed in its databases do not change 
on a frequent basis, and because the Commission provides updated data 
to the white space database administrators only once every weekday. To 
protect licensed wireless microphones operating in the TV bands that 
are registered in the white spaces database, the Commission requires 
more frequent communications in the event of microphone usage 
registrations that need more timely protection. In the 2015 White 
Spaces Report and Order, the Commission adopted the push notification 
requirement, which it believed to be an efficient way of achieving this 
objective. Furthermore, because licensed wireless microphone operations 
can be registered in any white space database, the Commission required 
that a white space database administrator share registration 
information with the other databases in a timely fashion.
    The Commission's decision to adopt the push notification 
requirement was intended to provide protection to licensed wireless 
microphone operations that may, upon registering to operate on 
specified TV channels, need quick protection from potential 
interference from white space device operations. Prior to adopting the 
Incentive Auction R&O in 2014, which required repurposing and 
auctioning some TV band spectrum for new 600 MHz wireless service, the 
Commission had reserved two TV channels where white space devices were 
not permitted to operate to ensure that there would be spectrum 
available for wireless microphones used in applications such as 
electronic news gathering for which it is not possible to register the 
operating location in the database at least 24 hours in advance. In the 
Incentive Auction R&O, the Commission decided to no longer designate 
two unused television channels for wireless microphones and instead 
took steps to improve the operation of the white space database to 
provide more immediate protection to wireless microphones. To ensure 
that registered wireless microphone users continue to receive 
protection in a timely manner, the Commission then proposed in its 2014 
White Spaces NPRM to: (1) Require fixed and Mode II personal/portable 
white space devices to re-check the database at time intervals not to 
exceed 20 minutes, (2) eliminate the rule that allows a white space 
device to continue operating until 11:59 p.m. on the following day if 
it cannot establish contact with the database, and (3) require database 
administrators to share wireless microphone registration information 
between databases within ten minutes.
    In the White Spaces Report and Order adopted in August of 2015 the 
Commission sought to balance the concerns of white space device and 
wireless microphone proponents when it adopted the push notification 
requirement in place of the proposed 20-minute re-check requirement to 
meet its objectives. The Commission was concerned that requiring all 
white space devices to re-check a database (regardless of their 
location) for a list of available channels every twenty minutes could 
unnecessarily burden the database administrators, adversely affect 
operation of white space devices relying on batteries for operation, 
and increase costs for white space device users. To ensure that 
channels would continue to be available for wireless microphones used 
for events that cannot be anticipated, such as late-breaking news 
events, the Commission concluded at that time, as suggested by parties 
in the record, that a reasonable and workable approach to accomplishing 
its goals was to require that database administrators ``push'' 
information to white space devices only in areas where licensed 
wireless microphones will be used, rather than requiring all white 
space devices to re-check a database every twenty minutes. Under this 
approach, when a database administrator receives a registration request 
for immediate access to particular channels for licensed wireless 
microphone use, the database administrators would, within ten minutes, 
share the licensed wireless microphone's channel registration 
information among themselves and within 20 minutes of receiving that 
information, would ``push'' information about changes in channel 
availability to fixed and Mode II personal/portable white space 
devices. The Commission provided white space database administrators 12 
months after the effective date of the rules, until December 23, 2016, 
to comply with this new requirement.
    Petitions for reconsideration. Google and NAB each filed a petition 
requesting that the Commission reconsider the push notification 
requirement, although each express different concerns with the 
requirement. Google contends that the Commission failed to recognize 
that, as a technical matter, requiring databases to ``push'' 
information to devices is at least as burdensome as requiring devices 
to ``pull'' information from databases. Google states that in order for 
a database to send information to a white space device, the device must 
either request information very frequently to simulate a push, which 
dramatically increases server utilization and reduces battery life in 
devices relying on such a power source, or the device must maintain a 
persistent connection with the database, which uses bandwidth and 
reduces battery life by preventing the device

[[Page 18988]]

from entering a sleep mode. It argues that the push rule would limit 
the use of battery powered, low-bandwidth, or remote white space 
devices designed to operate for very long periods on a single battery 
charge. It also argues that unless an unlicensed device makes frequent 
``pulls'' from the database or maintains a persistent, open connection, 
security features implemented on the device or network may block 
database messages from reaching the device. Google further argues that 
limiting the geographic area for database pushes does not reduce the 
burden on unlicensed devices or databases because there is no way for a 
database to communicate information to a particular device unless all 
devices in all locations continually check for updates.
    NAB argues that the push notification requirement is insufficient 
for providing technical assurance that white space devices will 
actually receive messages and cease operation on channels registered 
for use by licensed wireless microphones, and is concerned that white 
space devices may be used in internal private networks protected by 
firewalls that prevent external messaging. NAB states that if the 
Commission maintains the push notification approach, it must modify the 
rules to require that white space devices be capable of receiving 
notifications, including when they are not in operation or connected to 
the internet, and further that devices send the database a confirmation 
when they have received and complied with a push notification.
    Petitioners and commenting parties disagree, however, on what they 
view as the appropriate approach going forward. Google requests that 
the Commission require white space devices to contact the database more 
frequently on two designated ``fast polling'' channels, an approach 
similar to the one that Google had made in response to the White Spaces 
NPRM that the Commission had previously rejected in the White Spaces 
Report and Order. Google again suggests that the Commission can protect 
licensed wireless microphones by identifying two channels on which 
unlicensed devices would be required to query the database every 20 
minutes, while allowing white space devices operating on other channels 
to check the database only once daily. It argues that designating two 
``fast-polling'' channels would minimize the burden of constant 
rechecking on unlicensed devices and database operators, while 
providing adequate protection for wireless microphones used during 
breaking news events. Microsoft agrees with Google's suggestion. Google 
and Microsoft point out that under the previous rules only two channels 
were available on short notice for exclusive wireless microphone use 
and argue that because licensed wireless microphone users have access 
to a dedicated four-megahertz channel in the 600 MHz duplex gap and the 
ability to reserve channels in advance of predictable events like games 
and concerts, designating two fast-polling channels would leave 
wireless microphone operators no worse off than before.
    NAB requests that, in place of a push notification, the Commission 
require white space devices operating on any channel to contact the 
database every 20 minutes for an updated list of available channels, 
consistent with the Commission's proposal in the White Spaces NPRM. NAB 
argues that requiring white space devices to contact the database to 
check on channel availability more frequently, coupled with a 
requirement that devices cease operation if they cannot contact the 
database, is simpler, more efficient, more cost-effective, and will 
provide greater protection for licensed wireless microphones without 
requiring manufacturers to redesign devices. Shure agrees with NAB's 
suggestion.
    Regarding Google's proposed solution of creating two fast-polling 
channels, NAB contends that Google misinterprets the intent of the 
Commission's push requirement and fails to reflect the policy balance 
the Commission attempted to strike. NAB states that limiting polling to 
two channels does not provide licensed operations with the same 
capability and protection as under the Commission's previous rules or 
the same capability and protection as the Commission sought to provide 
with the push requirement. NAB further argues that Google's claim that 
polling on all channels would drive up database costs and adversely 
decrease device battery life is specious because the entire TV white 
space database is less than a couple of hundred kilobytes of data. 
Google counters that the issue is the frequency of database requests, 
not the size of the database or the amount of information transmitted 
in each request, and that increasing the number of requests 72-fold per 
day per device will be a burden on the database as white space devices 
become more widely deployed.
    Only Key Bridge, a database administrator, disagrees that 
implementing a push capability for white space devices and databases is 
impractical. It argues that the Commission's requirement to implement 
push notifications is sound and should be upheld, and that the 
Commission should reject Google's and NAB's objections that managing 
white space devices is too difficult to implement.
    Push Notification Waiver Order. By late 2016, while the petitions 
on push notification remained pending, no manufacturers had yet 
obtained certification for equipment that was capable of meeting the 
push notification requirement. Absent Commission action, all approved 
white space devices would have been required to cease operation no 
later than December 23, 2016. Accordingly, on December 22, 2016, the 
Commission adopted the Push Notification Waiver Order temporarily 
waiving the push notification requirements. OET has periodically 
extended this waiver several times since then, most recently on 
September 30, 2021 when it extended this waiver through March 31, 2022, 
or until the Commission takes final action on the petitions for 
reconsideration of the push notification rules, whichever comes 
earlier. As a result of these successive waiver orders, the push 
notification requirement has never come into effect. The Commission 
notes that since issuance of these waiver orders, no party has 
submitted additional suggestions for Commission consideration relating 
to the pending petitions.

Discussion

    The record before the Commission shows that the push notification 
requirement is viewed as problematic by advocates for licensed wireless 
microphone and white space device operations alike. The Commission's 
goal all along has been to adopt rules that would serve to protect 
licensed wireless microphones quickly following registration while also 
minimizing the burden on white space device operations. Although the 
Commission believes that a push notification approach is technically 
achievable, and notes that it has required access systems with rapid 
response times that, like the push notification, are more complicated 
than a periodic database re-check in other bands (such as in the 
Citizens Broadband Radio Service), the Commission agrees with most 
commenters and concludes that there is no reason to require a push 
notification approach with respect to white space devices and the white 
space database system. As discussed below, replacing the push 
notification requirement with a more frequent re-check requirement will 
meet the requisite need for protecting a limited number of registered 
wireless microphones, and does so in a sufficiently expeditious

[[Page 18989]]

fashion while not increasing the cost and complexity of white space 
devices and the database system by avoiding the need to redesign 
existing white space devices and the database system.
    Therefore, on reconsideration, the Commission replaces the push 
notification requirement for fixed and Mode II personal/portable 
devices operating in the TV bands, except for narrowband devices (which 
are addressed in the Further Notice), with a simpler and more easily 
implementable approach, namely requiring that these fixed and personal/
portable white space devices re-check the white space database at least 
once every hour, i.e., no longer than 60 minutes between re-checks. 
This frequent re-check requirement will protect licensed wireless 
microphone operations shortly following their database registration and 
will effectively protect registered licensed wireless microphone 
operations. The Commission adopts the requirement for white space 
devices to check the database every hour rather than every 20 minutes 
as it previously proposed because the Commission believe that this 
time-frame will be sufficient to accommodate licensed wireless 
microphones for unplanned events while reducing threefold the number of 
database rechecks each day. Reducing the number of database rechecks is 
important to ensure efficient white space device operation, reduce 
overhead on the networks, and maximize battery life for white space 
devices that are not connected to a reliable power source. To further 
reduce the impact on network traffic and white space devices, the 
Commission will not require devices that are in a sleep mode to re-
check the database until they emerge from that state. Informed by the 
record before it, both by objections to the push notification 
requirement and by subsequent developments with regard to white space 
device operations, the Commission again seeks to reach the right 
balance between licensed wireless microphone users and white space 
device users that share use of unused spectrum in the TV bands. The 
Further Notice seeks comment on the database re-check interval that 
should apply to the narrowband IoT white space devices and the mobile 
white space devices that the Commission authorized in the recently 
adopted 2020 White Spaces Report and Order.
    Although NAB and wireless microphone interests have requested 
requiring that white space devices re-check the database every 20 
minutes, the Commission believes that requiring a re-check every 60 
minutes will be sufficient and, by relying on a re-check approach 
instead of the more complex push notification approach, the Commission 
decision will serve to ensure the kind of reliable and effective 
protection those parties seek. The Commission also retains the 
requirement for database administrators to share Part 74 wireless 
microphone registration information with all other white space 
databases within ten minutes of a registration submission from a 
wireless microphone licensee. The Commission finds that these 
requirements will ensure that licensed wireless microphones used for 
electronic newsgathering and other unplanned uses can receive reliable 
and reasonably immediate protection from white space devices. In the 
Commission's considerations, it takes into account that, following 
completion of the Incentive Auction in 2017, licensed wireless 
microphone users have immediate and exclusive access to a 4-megahertz 
portion of the 600 MHz duplex gap and can also use a 2-megahertz 
portion of the 600 MHz guard band where white space devices are not 
permitted to operate, and that these wireless microphone operators 
potentially could make use of the 6-megahertz of the 600 MHz duplex gap 
available for unlicensed operations if white space devices are not 
operating at that location. Also, in many parts of the country the 
Commission would expect that there are likely to be one or more unused 
vacant TV channels available for wireless microphones that are not 
being used by white space devices.
    The balanced approach that the Commission is adopting also does not 
impose an unreasonable burden on white space devices or database 
systems. Importantly, this approach is easily implementable. All 
currently approved white space devices already have the capability to 
re-check the white space databases at least once per day for a list of 
all available channels in their area, and updating software or 
firmware, or redesigning devices to increase the frequency of database 
checking is a fairly simple matter. The Commission also concludes that 
requiring fixed and personal portable white space devices, except for 
narrowband IoT devices to re-check on an hourly basis, rather than 
every 20 minutes as previously proposed, sufficiently balances concerns 
of the white space device proponents concerned about potential battery 
issues while meeting the Commission's goal of quickly ensuring licensed 
wireless microphone access to TV channels for late-breaking events. The 
Commission also recognizes the concerns of Google and Microsoft that 
frequently waking a device from a sleep mode or preventing a device 
from entering a sleep mode to perform more frequent database checks or 
receive push notifications, could needlessly reduce the operational 
time of a battery powered device. Accordingly, the Commission will not 
require white space devices in sleep mode to contact the database. The 
Commission also believes that the increase in database traffic by 
changing to an hourly re-check interval will not be problematic for the 
white space database as computing power readily available today should 
be more than sufficient to manage twenty-four queries per day per white 
space device.
    The Commission notes, however, as the number of white space devices 
that contact the database increases, more frequent re-checks from a 
significantly larger number of devices could have an impact on the 
databases. The Commission continues to believe that a push notification 
system could in some implementations potentially be more efficient if 
the number of white space devices that must contact the database is 
large. Accordingly, while the Commission is not requiring 
implementation of a push notification system, it is retaining an option 
for white space device manufacturers and database administrators in the 
future to develop and implement such a system, as had been permitted by 
the rules in effect prior to the White Spaces Report and Order. 
However, the Commission is not specifying detailed technical 
requirements for a push notification system. The Commission encourages 
the industry, if it determines that the need develops, to collaborate 
on a standard for push notifications to white space devices and the 
Commission will revisit this issue as necessary to facilitate the 
development and deployment of a system developed by industry that 
provides at least the same degree of protection to protected services 
as the rules the Commission is adopting herein.
    The Commission rejects the suggestion by Google and Microsoft that 
the Commission should limit more frequent database re-checking to white 
space devices operating on only two designated channels, a reprise of 
the approach that the Commission previously rejected in the White 
Spaces Report and Order in 2015. The Commission does so for the same 
reasons. Because only a few channels would be designated for ``fast 
polling,'' this approach is less flexible in meeting the needs of 
wireless microphone users for immediate access to spectrum because 
broadcasters covering breaking news events may have wireless

[[Page 18990]]

microphones that operate on channels other than those designated for 
``fast polling.''
    Conforming edits. Because the Commission is adopting a 60-minute 
re-check requirement for most fixed and personal/portable white space 
devices operating in the TV bands, it is also modifying certain other 
rules to conform its rules to this change. In particular, the 
Commission's changes involve modifying existing rule provisions related 
to the requirement for white space devices to access the database on a 
daily basis.
    Under current rules, a white space device is required to re-check 
the database at least once per day to obtain a list of available 
channels for operation. The rules also provide that if a white space 
device subsequently is unable to make contact with a database, 
operation is permitted to continue until 11:59 p.m. on the following 
day, and if by then, it cannot contact the database, it must cease 
operation until such time as it re-establishes contact. The Commission 
proposed eliminating these provisions when it proposed in its 2014 
White Spaces NPRM to adopt a 20-minute re-check requirement for 
addressing registered licensed wireless microphone operations. When, 
however, the Commission adopted the push notification requirement in 
the White Spaces Report and Order instead of a 20-minute re-check 
requirement, it concluded that it should not eliminate the then-
existing daily re-check rule and instead would leave in place the 
requirement that white space devices re-check the database at least 
once per day to obtain the list of available TV channels at the 
location where the device operates.
    Because the Commission now adopts a 60-minute re-check requirement 
for fixed and personal/portable white space devices operating in the TV 
bands, other than narrowband IoT devices (discussed in the Further 
Notice), the Commission modifies the rules that require white space 
devices to only re-check the database once a day to obtain a list of 
available channels, and that permit these devices to continue operating 
using a channel on that list until 11:59 p.m. the following day when it 
cannot contact a database on a given day. Maintaining these rules would 
be inappropriate since this would allow white space devices that cannot 
contact a database to operate for a significantly longer time period 
than the 60-minute re-check interval the Commission is requiring for 
protecting licensed wireless microphones operating in the TV bands. The 
Commission notes that in response to its proposal in the White Spaces 
NPRM to require that white space devices re-check the database every 20 
minutes, several commenters agreed that the daily re-check provision in 
the rules, and permitting white space device to continue operating 
until 11:59 p.m. the following day when it is unable to contact the 
database, should be eliminated. Some commenters cautioned, though, that 
the Commission should permit a white space device to retry contacting 
the database one or more times before requiring that it discontinue 
operating because a white space device may occasionally be unable to 
make contact with the database within the designated polling interval. 
The Commission agrees. Accordingly, to ensure that white space devices 
may continue to operate during short network outages, the Commission 
will require fixed and personal/portable white space devices operating 
in the TV bands to cease operation after two failed scheduled checks, 
i.e., 120 minutes. This requirement will ensure that a white space 
device cannot continue to operate for an extended period of time on a 
channel that may be registered for use by a licensed wireless 
microphone in the event the white space device cannot contact a 
database to verify the list of available channels. This approach also 
is analogous to the current requirement that a white space device must 
cease operation after a time period no greater than two failed 
scheduled checks (a maximum of 48 hours for a re-check interval of 24 
hours). The Commission retains the current re-check requirements for 
white space devices that operate outside of the TV bands as well as for 
narrowband and mobile devices, but seeks comment in the Further Notice 
on whether it should change the re-check requirements for those 
devices.
    Because the Commission is reducing the length of time that white 
space devices may continue to operate when they cannot contact the 
database, it correspondingly reduces the time interval over which white 
space devices must adjust their channel usage in accordance with 
licensed wireless microphone scheduling information provided by the 
database. The Commission therefore requires that the white space 
database provide registered licensed wireless microphones scheduling 
information for the two hour time period after the white space device 
contacts the database. The white space device must adjust its use of 
channels in accordance with this scheduling information, i.e., it must 
cease using the channel during the times when a licensed wireless 
microphone is scheduled to use it. The Commission selects a time period 
of two hours because that is the maximum time that a white space device 
may operate if it is unable to contact the database. The Commission 
does not require white space devices operating outside the TV bands, 
i.e., in the 600 MHz service bands, the upper 6-megahertz portion of 
the 600 MHz duplex gap and on channel 37, to adjust their use of 
channels in accordance with scheduling information provided by the 
white space database because wireless microphones do not operate on 
those frequencies on a licensed basis and thus there will be no 
scheduling information for the database to provide.
    The Commission modifies Section 15.711 to implement the changes to 
the database re-check interval discussed above, and to streamline the 
applicable rules. Specifically, it revises paragraph (i) to remove the 
push notification requirement and replaces it with an option for 
manufacturers to develop a push notification system as the pre-2015 
rules allowed. The Commission moves the requirement for white space 
databases to share licensed wireless microphone registrations with 
other white space databases within ten minutes from Section 
15.711(i)(1) to Section 15.715(l). The Commission revises Section 
15.711(h) to place the database re-check requirements for fixed and 
Mode II personal/portable devices in a single paragraph, rather than in 
separate paragraphs as under the current rules.
    Transition. The Commission also adopts provisions establishing the 
transition requirements for white space device compliance with the 
newly established re-check requirements as set forth herein. The 
Commission notes that increasing the frequency of database checks can 
generally be done by reprogramming a white space device's software or 
firmware, thus enabling the new requirement to be met relatively 
quickly. Accordingly, the Commission requires that devices for which a 
certification application is approved by a Telecommunication 
Certification Body (TCB) beginning six months after the effective date 
of the rules must comply with the hourly database re-check requirement 
that replaces the daily re-check requirement. The Commission also 
requires that within six months after the effective date of the rules, 
all white space devices imported into or marketed within the United 
States comply with these requirements, regardless of when they were 
certified. Because white space devices already deployed generally 
should be able to download a software upgrade, the

[[Page 18991]]

Commission also requires that previously approved fixed white space 
devices that can be re-programmed comply with the faster re-check 
requirement six months after the effective date of the rules. Finally, 
the Commission modifies Section 15.37(j) to specify these transition 
dates for the faster database re-check interval in place of the 
transition dates for the push notification requirement that the 
Commission eliminates.

Order

    In this Order, the Commission denies NAB's petition for 
reconsideration of OET's 2018 action designating Nominet UK as a white 
space database administrator. OET referred this petition to the 
Commission for action pursuant to Section 1.106(a) of the rules. 
Nominet addressed concerns raised by NAB shortly after it filed its 
petition. The Commission notes that in 2020 Nominet's database was 
subsequently transferred to RED Technologies, which currently serves as 
a white spaces database administrator.
    Background. Pursuant to the white spaces rules, the Commission can 
designate one or more entities to administer a white space database 
system that provides lists of available channels to fixed, mobile and 
Mode II personal/portable white space devices. On November 16, 2017, 
Nominet filed a proposal with OET seeking to administer a white space 
database. After seeking comment on Nominet's proposal, on June 11, 
2018, the Commission's OET designated Nominet as a white space database 
administrator, subject to certain conditions, including that Nominet's 
database would be subject to a 45-day public trial period before it 
would be made available for actual use by white space devices to allow 
interested parties an opportunity to check that the database is 
providing accurate results.
    Following the 45-day public trial period, on September 19, 2018, 
OET gave final approval for Nominet to operate its white space database 
system. OET found that Nominet's white space database system was 
compliant with the Commission's rules and ready for operation, based on 
its own examination and testing of the Nominet database system and on 
the results of the public trial, including comments submitted to 
Nominet during and after the trial and Nominet's responses to those 
comments. As OET noted, during the trial period Nominet indicated that 
it successfully resolved three issues raised by NAB concerning 
Nominet's database system, including concerns about its channel 
availability calculator.
    On October 19, 2018, NAB filed a petition for reconsideration of 
OET's designation of Nominet as a white space database administrator. 
NAB states that its review of Nominet's database indicated that it 
contains incorrect channel information for hundreds of TV stations and 
that it provides at least one incorrect available channel at more than 
three-quarters of twenty-six locations analyzed. NAB states that the 
Nominet database is extracting the wrong information from the 
Commission database and that its approval should be revoked until 
Nominet addresses these issues. NAB further argues that OET should 
rework its internal processes and policies for approval of white space 
database administrators to ensure that sufficient testing is performed 
to detect errors, including testing with actual white space devices.
    Nominet responded to NAB's petition by agreeing that NAB had 
identified discrepancies, but asserts that those discrepancies arose 
due to difficulties experienced when importing TV station data from the 
Commission's new Licensing and Management System (LMS), which had 
replaced the Commission's Consolidated Database System (CDBS). Nominet 
explains that it was the first database administrator required to use 
the LMS, and that all published material by the FCC regarding how to 
apply the white space rules to TV data pertains to CDBS, which had been 
used by all previous database administrators. Nominet concludes by 
stating it promptly addressed NAB's concerns, and that the changes 
required to correct the import procedure were applied on October 24, 
2018, only days after NAB filed its petition for reconsideration on 
October 19, 2018. NAB did not respond directly to Nominet's response or 
identify specific ongoing errors that needed remedying.
    The Commission notes that, subsequent to the designation of Nominet 
as a white space database administrator, and in response to a petition 
submitted by NAB in 2015, the Commission took steps in the 2019 White 
Spaces Order to improve the accuracy and reliability of the fixed white 
space device data in the white space databases and ensure that the 
potential for these devices to cause harmful interference to protected 
services is minimized. Specifically, the Commission required all fixed 
white space devices to incorporate a geo-location capability such as 
GPS and eliminated the option that permitted the geographic coordinates 
of a fixed device to be determined by a professional installer. The 
Commission also adopted rules that allow the use of external geo-
location sources by a fixed white space device when the device is used 
at a location where its internal geo-location capability does not 
function, such as deep inside a building. In addition, the Commission 
required fixed white space devices to re-check their geographic 
coordinates at least once a day and report the coordinates to the white 
space database.
    Discussion. The Commission denies the NAB petition for 
reconsideration of OET's designation of Nominet as a white space 
database administrator. The Commission finds that the database errors 
discovered by NAB, which were immediately corrected by Nominet, are not 
grounds to revoke the designation of Nominet as a white space database 
administrator. As Nominet notes in its response to NAB's petition, 
Nominet was the first white space database administrator required to 
obtain TV station data from the Commission's new LMS instead of the 
older, well-understood CDBS. The LMS has a more sophisticated data 
structure than the CDBS, thus requiring new and more complex algorithms 
than those used by other white space database administrators to extract 
the proper TV station facility information (``extraction logic'') for 
input into the white space database. OET worked closely with Nominet to 
test the new extraction logic using Nominet's trial database to ensure 
that it functioned correctly. It appears that Nominet failed to include 
all of the updates made to the test database reviewed by OET in the 
final version that it made available for commercial use. As noted 
above, Nominet took action to remedy specific concerns raised by NAB. 
While the Commission is denying NAB's petition, the Commission 
underscores that it appreciates NAB bringing these concerns to the 
attention of the Commission and Nominet so that the errors could be 
remedied. However, the Commission does not believe that these errors 
show any fundamental deficiency on the part of the database 
administrator but appear to be the result of issues related to the 
Commission's transition from the CDBS to the LMS combined with an 
inadvertent failure by Nominet to include all of the latest updates in 
its final version of the database. Nominet promptly recognized its 
ongoing responsibility for remedying concerns brought to its attention. 
As noted above, in 2020, Nominet transferred its database to RED 
Technology, and NAB did not indicate any concerns about this transfer.
    The Commission takes seriously the integrity of the white space 
database since that is the primary means to

[[Page 18992]]

prevent white space devices from causing harmful interference to TV 
reception and other protected services. As noted above, the Commission 
at the suggestion of NAB took steps to increase the integrity of the 
white space database subsequent to the 2018 designation of Nominet as a 
white space database administrator. The changes adopted in the 2019 
White Spaces Order will ensure that fixed white space devices provide 
accurate coordinates to the white space database by requiring the 
incorporation of a geo-location mechanism in all fixed devices, as well 
as periodic re-checking of the coordinates by the white space device. 
The 2019 White Spaces Order also clarifies the registration 
requirements for fixed white space devices. These changes reduce the 
likelihood that fixed devices will report incorrect coordinates to the 
database, which could result in harmful interference to TV reception 
and protected services, as well as ensure the database contains 
accurate registration information that could be used to help track down 
any devices that cause harmful interference. OET will continue to work 
with any white space database administrator as well as any other 
interested party to ensure that the database provides accurate lists of 
available channels to white space devices.

Ordering Clauses

    Accordingly, it is ordered that, pursuant to the authority 
contained in Sections 4(i), 302, 303(b), (c), (e), (f), (r), and 307 of 
the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, and sections 6403 and 6407 
of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, Public Law 
112-96, 126 Stat. 156, 47 U.S.C. 154(i), 302, 303(b), (c), (e), (f), 
(r), 307, 1452, 1454, this Second Order on Reconsideration, Further 
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, and Order is hereby adopted.
    It is further ordered that the petitions for reconsiderations filed 
by Google, Inc. and the National Association of Broadcasters on 
December 23, 2015 in ET Docket No. 14-165 are granted in part and 
denied in part to the extent described herein.
    It is further ordered that Part 15 of the Commission's rules is 
amended as specified in Appendix A of the Second Order on 
Reconsideration, Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, and Order, and 
such rule amendments will become effective 30 days after the date of 
publication in the Federal Register.
    It is further ordered that the waiver of Sections 15.37(j) and 
15.711(i) of the Commission's rules, 47 CFR 15.37(j) and 15.711(i), 
adopted by the Commission on September 30, 2021, DA 21-349, is extended 
until the effective date of the rules adopted herein.
    It is further ordered that the petition for reconsideration of 
Nominet UK's designation as a white space database administrator filed 
by the National Association of Broadcasters on October 19, 2018 in ET 
Docket No. 04-186 is hereby denied.
    It is further ordered that the Commission's Consumer and 
Governmental Affairs Bureau, Reference Information Center, shall send a 
copy of the Second Order on Reconsideration, Further Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking, and Order, including the Final Regulatory Flexibility 
Analysis, to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business 
Administration.

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 15

    Communications equipment.

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary.

Final Rules

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, the Federal 
Communications Commission amends 47 CFR part 15 as follows:

0
1. The authority citation for part 15 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 47 U.S.C. 154, 302a, 303, 304, 307, 336, 544a, and 
549.


0
2. Amend Sec.  15.37 by revising paragraph (j) to read as follows:


Sec.  15.37  Transition provisions for compliance with the rules.

* * * * *
    (j) White space devices which are approved by Telecommunication 
Certification Bodies beginning [six months after the effective date of 
the rules] shall comply with the database re-check requirements in 
Sec.  15.711(h) of this part. White space devices that are in 
operation, imported or marketed beginning [six months after the 
effective date of the rules] shall also comply with these requirements.
* * * * *

0
3. Amend Sec.  15.711 by revising paragraphs (c)(2)(iii), (d)(4), (h) 
and (i) to read as follows:


Sec.  15.711   Interference avoidance methods.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (2) * * *
    (iii) A fixed white space device shall access the database at least 
as frequently as specified in paragraph (h) of this section to verify 
that the operating channel(s) and corresponding power levels continue 
to remain available. The fixed device's registration information shall 
be updated if the geographic coordinates reported to the database 
differ by more than 50 meters from the previously 
registered coordinates.
* * * * *
    (d) * * *
    (4) A Mode II personal/portable white space device that has been in 
a powered state shall re-check its location and access the database at 
least as frequently as specified in paragraph (h) of this section to 
verify that the operating channel(s) and corresponding power levels 
continue to be available.
* * * * *
    (h) Database re-check requirement. (1) Fixed and Mode II personal/
portable devices, except for narrowband devices, operating in the 
television bands.
    (i) A device that has been in a powered-on state shall access the 
white space database at least once every 60 minutes to verify that the 
operating channel(s) and associated maximum power levels continue to be 
available at its location. Devices shall adjust their channel usage in 
accordance with the most recent channel availability schedule 
information provided by the white space database for the two-hour 
period beginning at the time of the device last accessed the database 
for a list of available channels.
    (ii) If a device fails to successfully contact the white space 
database, it may continue to operate until no longer than 120 minutes 
after the last successful contact, at which time it must cease 
operations until it reestablishes contact with the white space database 
and re-verifies its list of available channels and associated maximum 
power levels.
    (2) Narrowband devices operating in the television bands and fixed 
and Mode II personal/portable devices operating outside of the 
television bands.
    (i) A device that has been in a powered-on state shall access the 
database at least once a day to verify that the operating channel(s) 
and associated maximum power levels continue to be available at its 
location.
    (ii) If a device fails to successfully contact the white space 
database during any given day, it may continue to operate until 11:59 
p.m. of the following day at which time it must cease operations until 
it re-establishes contact with the white space database and re-verifies 
its list of available channels and corresponding power levels.
    (i) Push notifications. Device manufacturers and database 
administrators may implement a system that pushes updated channel 
availability information from the

[[Page 18993]]

database to white space devices. However, the use of such systems is 
not mandatory, and the requirements for white space devices to validate 
the operating channel and to cease operation in accordance with 
paragraph (h) of this section continue to apply if such a system is 
used.
* * * * *

0
4. Amend Sec.  15.715 by revising paragraph (l) to read as follows:


Sec.  15.715   White space database administrator.

* * * * *
    (l) If more than one database is developed, the database 
administrators shall cooperate to develop a standardized process for 
providing on a daily basis or more often, as appropriate, the data 
collected for the facilities listed in Sec.  15.713(b)(2) to all other 
white space databases to ensure consistency in the records of protected 
facilities. In response to a request for immediate access to a channel 
by a licensed wireless microphone user, white space database 
administrators are required to share the licensed microphone channel 
registration information to all other white space database 
administrators within 10 minutes of receiving each wireless microphone 
registration.
* * * * *

[FR Doc. 2022-06503 Filed 3-31-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P