by Brian Grahn
T-Mobile has announced that it intends to commence operations in the 600MHz band beginning in Q4 of 2019 for the Chicagoland market. This will also coincide with Phase 6 of the FCC plan to repack existing UHF TV stations. The takeaway is that users of wireless microphone, in-ear monitoring, and intercom systems will likely be affected both within and below the 600MHz region.
T-Mobile Deployment
In the Chicago market, T-Mobile is licensed to use blocks B, C, and D of the new 600MHz “Band 71” for commercial wireless service. This means that as early as October 2019, operations in 622-637 MHz and 668-683 MHz will become illegal. These two bands are the immediately affected area, but eventually, all wireless systems that function in 617-652 MHz and 663-698 MHz will need to cease operation by July 2020. Small pockets will remain for use in the 600 MHz guard band (614-616 MHz) and the 600 MHz duplex gap (653-663 MHz).
UHF Repack
Phase 6 of the FCC’s plan runs from September 7 to October 18, 2019 and includes the relocation of nine local Chicago TV stations in the UHF spectrum. Most of this movement involves stations below the 600 MHz threshold moving to make room for channels previously above the cutoff to fit into the newly consolidated lower UHF region (for instance, WMAQ will be moving from channel 29 to 33). During this short transition, TV stations could be testing in their new channel while still operating in their pre-auction channel.
Being Aware of the Spectrum
Potentially overnight, T-Mobile will fire-up services in the 600 MHz region and TV stations will jump from one channel to another. For end-users, these changes will almost certainly require a fresh coordination of wireless devices. As a reminder, these may include wireless handheld and lavalier microphone systems, wireless intercom devices, wireless in-ear monitoring systems, and any other devices that operate in the UHF spectrum.
For more information about the 600MHz Auction and what happened, visit our previous article 600 MHz Update: Wireless Questions Answered.
For additional information or advice on how your wireless systems could be affected, contact our sales team at sales@tcfurlong.com.