The Chief of the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) has issued an order extending through March 31, 2020, a waiver of the push notification requirements in FCC rule sections 15.37(j) and 15.711(i). The current waiver of the push notification requirements for fixed and Mode II personal/portable white space devices and white space databases will expire September 30, 2019. In August of 2015, the FCC adopted new rules for white space devices and unlicensed wireless microphones that operate in the TV bands, 600 MHz Band, and in Channel 37. To prevent interference to protected services, including licensed wireless microphones, certain white space devices are required to check a database at least once a day to obtain a list of available channels at their operating location. By the 2015 order, the FCC retained this requirement plus added requirements that database administrators push changes in channel availability information to white space devices where licensed wireless microphones operate. In response to petitions for reconsideration that asserted difficulties in implementing the new rules, the FCC granted a waiver until it addressed the petitions. As the petitions are still under review, OET has extended the waiver. Manufacturers may continue to market, and users may operate, previously approved white space devices, as long as they comply with the daily database check requirement.
