Representatives from 11 companies in the professional audio...

Representatives from 11 companies in the professional audio industry, including ESPN, NBC Network News and Sennheiser, met with staff of the FCC Wireless Bureau Wednesday to discuss the commission’s proceedings on the 3.5 GHz band and wireless microphones. The industry representatives urged the FCC to define rules for shared use of the 3.5 GHz band “in a manner that would make this band a viable option for manufacturers and users to consider, along with other frequency bands, to support professional wireless microphone operations.” The group also asked the FCC to ensure that future rules will allow for narrowband emissions and will either minimize or eliminate exclusion zones for low-power services when they aren’t an interference threat to coastal radar. The group said in an ex parte filing that current Part 74 rules are “grossly out-of-date and the public interest requires that they be revised so that all professional wireless microphone operations are eligible for Part 74 wireless microphones licensing” (http://bit.ly/1fZNau3).