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The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposed and sought comment on rules for fixed and personal/portable white space devices that would operate in: the frequency bands that are now and will continue to be allocated and assigned to broadcast television services (the TV bands); the 600 MHz band plan spectrum that, following the Incentive Auction, will be designated as guard bands (including a duplex gap); the portion of that spectrum allocated and assigned to new part 27 licensees where wireless licensees have not commenced operations; and Channel 37. It also proposes rules for unlicensed wireless microphone operations under part 15 of the rules in the TV bands and 600 MHz band plan spectrum, and for licensed wireless microphone operations under part 74 of the rules in the 600 MHz band plan spectrum. In addition, the NPRM proposes changes to the white spaces databases and changes for certifying, manufacturing, and marketing white space devices and wireless microphones in the frequency bands at issue in this proceeding. In particular, the NPRM proposes rules to expand the location and frequency information in these databases so that they can be used to identify available frequencies for white space devices, including unlicensed wireless microphones, in the repurposed 600 MHz band, guard bands, and Channel 37.

In the Report and Order, the Commission maximizes unlicensed white space device’s access to spectrum in the television broadcasting band and the 600 MHz band in a number of ways, while at the same time protecting licensed users from harmful interference. The Commission accomplishes this by modifying our part 15 rules to permit fixed and personal/portable devices to use TV channels previously unavailable to them while continuing to protect TV services from harmful interference by, for example, adjusting power limits, specifying separation distances, and specifying antenna heights. The Commission also adopts technical rules for white space device operations in the 600 MHz band including the duplex gap, guard bands, 600 MHz service band and Channel 37 by limiting power and specifying frequency and distance separations as needed to protect authorized services in those bands from harmful interference. White space devices will continue to access the white space databases for channel assignments in the TV bands, as well as in the 600 MHz band and Channel 37. These are the specific actions we take to ensure that white space devices have sufficient spectrum to provide broadband services in these bands.