FCC Spectrum Auction 2017

In 2017 the FCC conducted a spectrum auction to sell spectrum for use by mobile phone companies. This spectrum is commonly used for wireless audio transmitters.

Specifically, wireless audio microphones that operate in the 600 MHz service band (the 617-652 MHz and 663-698 MHz frequencies) will be required to cease operation no later than July 13, 2020.

In some cases and in some regions, use of this spectrum will be illegal before July 13, 2020.  T-Mobile plans to roll this out in a very short period of time, much less than 2 years.

T-Mobile Lights Up World’s First 600 MHz LTE Network at Breakneck Pace

“T-Mobile’s first 600 MHz LTE network sites — the very first in the world — were just switched on in Cheyenne, Wyoming…….

This year alone, additional 600 MHz sites are slated for locations including Wyoming, Northwest Oregon, West Texas, Southwest Kansas, the Oklahoma panhandle, Western North Dakota, Maine, Coastal North Carolina, Central Pennsylvania, Central Virginia and Eastern Washington”

“This team broke every record in the books with the speed of our 700 MHz LTE deployment, and we’re doing it again. T-Mobile is effectively executing in six months what would normally be a two-year process,” said Neville Ray, Chief Technology Officer for T-Mobile. “We won’t stop … and we won’t slow down!”

Here are more details of locations where it will be illegal this year (2018) to operate wireless audio transmitters in much of the 600Mhz band.

T-Mobile notified low power TV stations about commencement of operations