Churches, businesses, and other organizations that use wireless microphones operating in the 700 MHz band (698-806 MHz) must stop doing so by June 12, according to a decision last month by the Federal Communications Commission.
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Many churches own wireless mics in the 700 MHz band ("Understanding New Wireless Microphone Restrictions," May/June 2009, Your Church) and continue to operate them, even though the FCC's digital television transition last year signaled a ban to that activity eventually would come. The FCC estimates that 25 percent of wireless mics operate in the spectrum, meaning thousands of churches likely are affected.
Ever since the FCC auctioned off the rights to the 700 MHz band in 2008, it was only a matter of time before the new owners (Verizon and AT&T, among others) would receive sole access to the sections of the spectrum for which they paid billions of dollars. These frequencies will be used (and in some cases, are already being used) by public safety agencies and next-generation (4G) wireless devices.
The FCC says it is ready to help organizations affected by the changes.
"We're doing everything we can to notify as many of these organizations as possible," says Matthew Nodine, chief of staff for the FCC's Wireless Communications Bureau.
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