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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 28 / Friday, February 12, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 0.291 of the Commissions rules, 47 CFR
0.91 and 0.291, amending the operational date of 54.624, 54.625, 54.626, and 54.627 of the Commissions rules, 47 CFR 54.624, 54.625, 54.626, and 54.627, as indicated herein.
7. It is further ordered that, pursuant to 1.102b1 of the Commissions rules, 47 CFR 1.102b1, the order shall be effective March 15, 2021.
Federal Communications Commission.
Cheryl L. Callahan, Assistant Chief, Telecommunications Access Policy Division Wireline Competition Bureau.
Editorial note: This document was received for publication at the Office of the Federal Register on January 8, 2021.
FR Doc. 202100588 Filed 21121; 8:45 am BILLING CODE 671201P

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS
COMMISSION
47 CFR Parts 73 and 74
MB Docket Nos. 15146; GN Docket No.
12268; FCC 20175; FRS 17303

Amendment of the Commissions Rules To Provide for the Preservation of One Vacant Channel in the UHF
Television Band for Use by White Space Devices and Wireless Microphones Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Final rule.
AGENCY:

In this Report and Order Order, the Federal Communications Commission declines to adopt rules proposed in the Commissions 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
SUMMARY:

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support of these services. Accordingly, the Commission terminates this docket.
DATES: The decision is effective February 12, 2021.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Shaun Maher, Shaun.Maher@fcc.gov of the Media Bureau, 202 4182324.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commissions Report and Order R&O, MB Docket Nos. 15
146; GN Docket No. 12268; 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 fcc504@
fcc.gov or call the Consumer &
Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202
4180530 voice, 2024180432 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, todays 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 Commissions 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 Commissions 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.

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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.

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