White Spaces Waivers Seen Going to TV Stations’ Distant Transmitters

White spaces rules waivers are likely to be given by the FCC to many or all of the several dozen TV stations that sought protection from interference for outlets far away from the antenna of the broadcaster that originates the content, industry officials predicted. Those who have filed the requests, which were due April 5 but continued being posted last week to docket 04-186, and engineering officials said they're hoping the waivers won’t be controversial. Under last year’s white spaces order, those with sites receiving the TV signals of other stations, and located more than 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the protected service area of the originating station, can seek such waivers.

If the waivers are granted, the stations can ask the administrators of databases listing the location of FCC licensees to be protected against interference from unlicensed, portable broadband devices operating in the spaces between TV channels. More than 100 stations, mainly low-power translators, had sought the waivers, our review of filings showed. Applicants are located in the western U.S. Some carry programming of public-TV stations, including KAET Phoenix, KOCE Huntington Beach, Calif., and KUED Salt Lake City. Commercial broadcasters including Bonneville, Hubbard Broadcasting, LIN Media and Newport TV made other filings.

More stations might have sought FCC exemptions if they'd known to, industry officials said. They said that many TV stations and rural cable operators appeared not to have known about the April 5 deadline to seek exemptions, because the agency didn’t release a public notice saying that. Paragraph 42 of the September order said waiver seekers had 90 days to do so after the rules took effect, at http://xrl.us/bjpqth. FCC representatives had no comment.

Because some of the sites aren’t run or owned by the broadcaster whose programming is being relayed, the companies don’t know they need to file a waiver, industry officials said. “We're finding that many of our clients are unaware of the potential problem,” said President Don Everist of Cohen Dippell, an engineering firm that works for broadcasters. “They have not institutionalized the idea to look at it,” since “they have never had to do this before,” he said. “We're recommending to all of our clients that they protect any and all cable headends that they're aware of, as well as translators.” It “takes a lot of effort” to find out who else is carrying a station’s content, Everist said.

There’s optimism the requests won’t face much opposition from wireless device manufacturers and others seeking to make or sell white spaces devices, said Everist, Association for Maximum Service TV President David Donovan and several broadcast lawyers who made the filings. Some said operating a white spaces device near a receiver site that gets a distant station and rebroadcasts it locally could wipe out the signal at that site, meaning viewers wouldn’t be able to get any picture or sound. CEA, a white spaces proponent, declined to comment.

"If the waivers are denied, that means that folks who rely on over-the-air TV and cable subscribers could face interference,” said Donovan, who’s going to leave MSTV as it merges with the NAB, to head the New York state broadcaster group. “I trust they'll be noncontroversial,” he said of the waivers. “For services out in rural areas, this is a very important issue.” The commission said it will issue a public notice seeking comment on the waivers, at which time opposition could be expressed. Industry officials said such a notice hasn’t been issued yet.

"My sense is it shouldn’t be controversial,” said broadcast lawyer Erwin Krasnow of Garvey Schubert, which sought exemptions for several dozen translators in Montana on behalf of KFBB Great Falls, KULR Billings and KTMF Missoula. “The ones we filed were the very types of communities the commission had in mind -- rural areas with small populations who don’t get as much service as folks in the big cities,” Krasnow said. If there’s no opposition to any of the requests, it seems the commission will OK them, said lawyer Leighton Brown of Holland & Knight, which sought a waiver for a satellite station of KSTP St. Paul. “My assumption would be that the vast majority, if not all, especially if they are not opposed, would be granted,” Leighton said.