FCC to many "wireless microphone" users: turn them off! [telecom]

[FCC document]

FCC ADOPTS ORDER TO CLEAR THE 700 MHZ FREQUENCY BAND FOR PUBLIC SAFETY AND NEXT GENERATION CONSUMER USERS

Washington, D.C. - Today the Federal Communications Commission adopted an Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking prohibiting the further distribution and sale of devices that operate in the 700 MHz frequency band. This action helps complete an important component of the DTV Transition by clearing the 700 MHz band to enable the rollout of communications services for public safety and the deployment of next generation 4G wireless devices for consumers.

The order will primarily impact the use of wireless microphone systems that currently operate in the 700MHz band. These unlicensed devices cannot continue to operate in this band because they may cause harmful interference to public safety entities and next generation consumers devices that will be utilizing it. Thus, the Commission is making clear that no devices utilizing these frequencies may be sold or distributed. In order to ensure that individuals and groups currently using unauthorized devices in this band have ample time to transition to appropriate frequencies, the FCC is providing a sunset period until June 12, 2010, one year from the DTV Transition.

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[a] FCC documents are typically available in "pdf", "word doc", and in quasi-text. The urls are the same except for the trailing extension.

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