At Sweetwater, we try to stay on the cutting edge of technology — for two reasons. First, it’s because we love this stuff. But secondly, we want to keep our friends and customers informed about the tech that will impact their lives and creative endeavors. That’s why we highlight pertinent news that might affect you as musicians, entertainers, or as team members at a house of worship. The government’s recent sale of the 600MHz broadcast spectrum is now going into effect and that will impact all users with 600MHz wireless systems. In order to protect wireless mic purchasers who may not be aware of the recent change in wireless spectrum, the government has announced a rule meant to inform wireless buyers about the evacuation of the 600MHz range. If you are shopping or considering selling a wireless system now, we wanted to make sure you know about this announcement concerning the sale of all wireless systems in the 600MHz range.
Dateline: March 13, 2018
The Federal Register yesterday published a rule that requires consumer disclosure, including specific consumer alert language (see below), regarding changing requirements for selling wireless microphones operating in the 600MHz band. The mandated alert message is written to advise consumers that wireless microphone users must cease operations in the 600MHz band no later than July 13, 2020, or earlier if their use could interfere with wireless operations in the band. The disclosure must be displayed at the point of sale in a “clear, conspicuous, and readily legible manner,” and on the websites of manufacturers (even if the company does not sell equipment to the public), dealers, distributors, retailers, and anyone else selling or leasing such equipment.
This rule will become effective April 11, 2018.
Here is the disclosure text that is required by the federal government.
CONSUMER ALERT
This particular wireless microphone device operates in portions of the 617-652 MHz or 663-698 MHz frequencies. Beginning in 2017, these frequencies are being transitioned by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to the 600 MHz service to meet increasing demand for wireless broadband services. Users of this device must cease operating on these frequencies no later than July 13, 2020. In addition, users of this device may be required to cease operations earlier than that date if their operations could cause harmful interference to a 600 MHz service licensee’s wireless operations on these frequencies. For more information, visit the FCC’s wireless microphone website at www.fcc.gov/wireless-microphones-guide or call the FCC at 1- 888-CALL-FCC (TTY: 1-888-TELL-FCC).
If you have any questions about wireless mics or how the spectrum reallocation will affect your current wireless mic systems, call your Sweetwater Sales Engineer at (800) 222-4700.
To find out more about the sale of the 600MHz band and the government’s wireless spectrum reallocation, check out this article: The FCC’s Wireless Spectrum Auction: Why You Should Care.
