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As part of the transition to DTV, certain frequency spectrums previously occupied by UHF TV channels and various licensed wireless microphone and control services in the TV and radio broadcast as well as all other professional and amateur uses must vacate and cease use after June 12, 2010.

What this means is if you own a wireless microphone that operates in the range of 694 to 806 Mhz band ( AKA 700 Mhz band ) it will no longer be allowed to be used after June 12, 2010. This restriction will hit all wireless microphones made by Audio Technica, Sennheiser, Sony, Lectrosonics, Nady, asnd several others prior to 2008. Most wireless microphones sold prior to 1990 were in the VHF range and have long since been illegal.

The problem is that while the FCC granted licenses to all wireless audio manufacturers they were not licensed to users of a licensed wireless microphone and people operated it under a license free classification. This portion of the spectrum was auctioned off to Qualcomm, Verizon and AT&T for use in the new 4G or LTE technology except for a few band segments that did not meet reserve bid minimums. This portion was then reserved for emergency services.



What TV and radio are needing to do today? They will be switching to hard wire microphones for both studio and ENG ( electronic news gathering ) services. For the most part, EFP ( Electronic Field Production ) & movie making have traditionally used hard wire audio so it is expected that there will be little impact in this part of the industry.

To give you an idea of the impact of this in terms of cost, personally, I own 5 wireless professional mics that will be illegal to use and sell in the US after June 12, 2010. Few people would buy one of these now anyway. You might think that you could get away with it and not get caught, but the reality is that with LTE services coming on board, the microphone will be technically useless and not only generate but be crippled with RF interference. Personally, I have $13000 of professional audio equipment that will be obsolete overnight. I cannot afford to replace this equipment with the state of the industry and economy the way it is. Ironically, my equipment occupies the portion of spectrum that did not auction off so it may, technically, operate, but if an emergency service squats on that frequency, I could be subject to fine and prison so the bottom line is, the equipment that was legal yesterday is junk today.

I've been on the phone with several wedding videographers in the same boat, a few are thinking to toss in the towel this year as it will be that proverbial straw that breaks their back.

The date of June 12, 2010 was announced just last month and while we did know about the auction in 2008, there wasn't a hard vacate date set until last month.


Pillsbury > Resources > Publications & Presentations > Advisory?Radio, Television, and Other Users of Wireless Microphones Must Migrate Out of the 700 MHz Band