Rep. John Culberson (R-Tex.) has written the FCC adding his
voice to the choir backing interference protections for wireless microphones in
churches and other venues.
"I am writing to ask that the commission consider the
concerns of Second Baptist Church,
Lakewood Church and other wireless microphone
users," he wrote to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. "Nearly one
third of all comment period filers were representatives of churches,
highlighting the critical nature of wireless microphone systems in religious
services."
The FCC is allowing unlicensed devices to share the
so-called "white spaces" in the TV spectrum band used by broadcasters
and wireless microphones and is currently considering what interference
protections to afford incumbent users.
Part of the new sharing regime is a geolocation database
that broadcasters will be registered in so that unlicensed devices know to
steer clear of their frequencies.
Users of wireless mics, including many churches, have asked
for similar protections.
Culberson is a co-sponsor of a bill introduced by Rep. Bobby
Rush (D-Ill.) that would give a number of classes of professional wireless mic
users that database protection, including churches, parks, convention centers,
museums, stadiums, theaters and recording studios.
A host of interested parties, from the music director on American Idol to various sports leagues
and Broadway theaters share Culberson's concern for mic protections.
