
WASHINGTON-NAB, in reply to comments regarding the FCC's TV white space (TVWS) device proposed rulemaking notice, told the commission that consistent with Part 15 rules and as a matter of law that harmful interference from an unlicensed service must not be allowed to cause harmful interference to licensed users.
In the filing, the association said it and Microsoft had worked for several months to negotiate a set of beneficial adjustments to the FCC's existing rules that would allow improvement in TVWS service while protecting TV broadcasters from interference.
Unfortunately, some commenters seek to expand the scope of this proceeding into areas that have already been fully debated and where there have been no new developments that would warrant changes, said NAB in its comments.
The baseline for any adopted rule changes must be that they don't increase the risk of harmful interference, it reiterated.
The association urged the FCC to dismiss what it dubbed extraneous proposals, such as alternative propagation models, power increases and reduced frequency coordination requirements, because the agency cannot conclude they will not increase the potential for harmful interference, the filing said.
PLUS: Senators Push for FCC Action on White Spaces
In opposition to the assertion of the Public Interest Spectrum Coalition (PISC) and the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA) that television service is overprotected based on free-space propagation models and worst-case assumptions about TV receiver performance, NAB told the FCC that contour protection is the only reasonable way to protect consumer TV receivers, which operate as hidden nodes.
NAB reminded the FCC that the contours used to protect TV service in an area are from the empirically derived R-6602 propagation curves as codified in the Commission's rules, not on free-space propagation.
Further, it told the FCC that TVWS protection requirements are relaxed when compared to the commission's other broadcast protection rules. It also disputed a WISPA assertion that ATSC 3.0 is more robust against interference, saying there is no basis for the statement.
The Commission should not change its protection methodology with respect to television receivers until a far more substantial technical record based on real world experience with ATSC 3.0 deployments is available, NAB said.
The association told the FCC that it should not permit increased transmitter power for TVWS devices. Doing so inevitably will lead to inadvertent or intentional overpower operation, it said.
NAB also told the commission that it should allow geo-fenced TVWS operation but that restrictions are warranted and that the protection distances for T-Band land-mobile radio protection should be increased.
The association recommended the FCC adopt Microsoft's proposed coordination requirement for TVWS operations where the height above average terrain (HAAT) exceeds 250 meters.
NAB continues to believe that the alternative notification process suggested in the NPRM will lead to interference that will be difficult to identify, it said. However, if the commission favors the notification process rather than Microsoft's proposed coordination procedures, the advanced notice should be longer than 48 hours.
NAB also urged the FCC to maintain rules for first-adjacent channel operation. Microsoft submitted test results it said supported allowing higher power on first-adjacent channels. NAB countered that those tests only used 2018-2019 model TV receivers, which provides no useable information whatsoever with respect to older receivers, NAB said.
Similarly, Microsoft used an ATSC 3.0 dongle costing about $1,000 and marketed as a professional grade receiver to test first-adjacent channels with respect to NextGen TV. The consumer ATSC 3.0 receiver market is plainly in a nascent stage, and without a wider base of tested receivers the Commission cannot draw any conclusions about the susceptibility of future 3.0 receivers to interference, it said.
NAB also asked the commission to reject adjustments to TVWS protections based on the use of directional antennas. While it agrees that directional antennas can reduce the potential for interference, there is absolutely no way of determining whether a directional antenna has been installed properly without the help of a licensed land surveyor, it said.
NAB concluded by urging the FCC to move forward in an expeditious manner with the proposals set forth in the NPRM that are uncontroversial and technically supported.
The NAB comments are available in full online.
North America Stories
14/07/2025
The Royal Moroccan Air Force hosted a C-130 award ceremony with L3Harris Technologies President of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Jason Lambert a...
14/07/2025
UK launch set for September, following on from recent US and Germany releases
London - UK, July 14, 2025 - Nielsen, a global leader in audience measurement, da...
14/07/2025
SHENZHEN, China Telycam has added control options for its portfolio of pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras with a new plug-in for Elgato's Stream Deck family of con...
14/07/2025
The awards are open to IBC2025 show exhibitors and offer a valuable platform for companies to raise awareness for the new products and solutions they will be la...
14/07/2025
Clear-Com is excited to announce a significant expansion of the award-winning Arcadia Central Station with new software updates. Together, these releases dram...
14/07/2025
Grass Valley and Daktronics today announced a strategic technology partnership that unites Grass Valley's live production expertise with Daktronics' lea...
14/07/2025
Cloud playout solutions provider, Veset, and swXtch.io, provider of cloud-based multicast and reliable networking solutions, are partnering to deliver multicast...
14/07/2025
Tintri , a DDN subsidiary and leader in AI-powered data management solutions, today announces a game-changing and award-winning refresh to its global Partner P...
14/07/2025
HighField AI, the broadcast industry's first agentic and multimodal AI platform for automating graphics production, is now commercially available. Developed...
14/07/2025
Encompass Digital Media has today announced that it has been delivering a complex global services project for DAZN, the world s leading sports entertainment pla...
14/07/2025
MASV (massive.io), the fastest, most reliable large file transfer platform trusted by over 10,000 global organizations, announced today it will showcase its nex...
14/07/2025
Calrec is introducing a series of usability, customisation and system enhancements across the entire range of Argo consoles at IBC 2025, on Stand 8.C47. Look ou...
14/07/2025
Fincons Group, IT business consultancy and systems integrator company with more than 40 years of experience in the market, is proud to announce a new engagement...
14/07/2025
Stand 5.F45, IBC2025, Amsterdam, 12 15 September 2025 Intinor returns to IBC to present the latest updates to its Direkt series. A key development on show is ...
14/07/2025
Sony's New Coach's Headset Was Designed in Collaboration With the NFL Featuring a custom dynamic boom mic, the headset will debut in the fall By Dan Da...
14/07/2025
Live From MLB All-Star 2025: MLB Network's Marc Caiafa and Tom Guidice on th...
14/07/2025
Back to All News
Netflix ISP Speed Index for June 2025
Product
14 July 2025
Global
Link copied to clipboard
One percent of Internet Service Providers (ISP...
14/07/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Begins Filming The Map of Longing With Al cia Falc , P...
14/07/2025
This July marks 100 days since I officially stepped into the role of CEO at Grass Valley, a milestone not of abrupt change, but of confident continuity.
Unlike...
13/07/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Expands B&B Universe' with Yu Jae Seok's B&B ...
13/07/2025
Live From MLB All-Star 2025: MLB Network Marks Five Straight Years of Onsite MLB...
12/07/2025
Ryan Coogler accepting the 2013 Vanguard Award. Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez.
Editor's Note: In honor of Fruitvale Station s 12th anniversary, we're d...
12/07/2025
Key Code Education, the professional training division of Key Code Media, proudly announces a major update to its Adobe Premiere Pro Engineering and Advanced Op...
12/07/2025
Key Code Education, a leader in instructor-led post production training for over...
12/07/2025
As the death toll continues to mount, with at least 120 killed and more than 170 people still missing on July 10 from devastating Texas floods, a number of broa...
12/07/2025
EL SEGUNDO, Calif., and MIAMI -DirecTV and TelevisaUnivision have signed a deal that will make the ad-supported premium subscription tier of ViX, ViX Premium wi...
11/07/2025
PARK CITY, UTAH, July 11, 2025 - The nonprofit Sundance Institute announced today the 11 producers chosen for its annual Producers Labs, returning to Ucross Fou...
11/07/2025
L3Harris Technologies President of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Jason Lambert and General Manager of L3Harris Waco facility Sean Ling held a ce...
11/07/2025
ARLINGTON, Va. WETA, the flagship public media station in the national capital area, has launched WETA+, a new streaming service tailored for the local Washingt...
11/07/2025
The Federal Communications Commission has emerged as one of the central players in the broadcast TV landscape in 2025, with its deregulatory policies sparking h...
11/07/2025
Calrec will introduce usability, customization and system enhancements across its entire range of Argo consoles during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Amsterda...
11/07/2025
LONDON Encompass Digital Media said it will support live and on-demand viewing of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup across multiple global regions for sports enterta...
11/07/2025
Two-thirds of broadcast engineers reaped the benefits of a pay raise within the last year....
11/07/2025
CARY, N.C. SmallHD has launched the Quantum 27, a new 26.5-inch Quantum-Dot OLED monitor designed to deliver postproduction image quality in a compact, set-frie...
11/07/2025
The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau and Tegna have entered into a consent decree that will settle an investigation into the accidenta...
11/07/2025
WASHINGTON Following news in early July that Paramount had settled President Donald Trump's lawsuit, Sens. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Ben Ray Luj n (D-N...
11/07/2025
Model/Actriz Performs Lead Single Cinderella on The Late Show with Stephen Colbe...
11/07/2025
Behind the Mic: Amazon Prime Preps for First Season of NBA Action; MSG Networks ...
11/07/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Suite Studios' Craig Hering on Adapting to Client...
11/07/2025
2025 SVG Content Management Forum Breaks Down AI's Impact, Continued Transit...
11/07/2025
A Journey HOME: University of Nebraska's HuskerVision Goes IP Leaders from the HuskerVision and Lawo share their IP learnings By SVG Staff
Friday, July 1...
11/07/2025
CMSI, Remote Picture Labs, Ace ESPN's Cloud-Based Editing Efforts for Wimble...
11/07/2025
Netflix Enters the Live-Boxing-Production Ring for Round 2 With Historic Taylor-...
11/07/2025
Back to All News
Too Hot to Handle: Italy Is Coming on July 18 Only on Netflix
Entertainment
11 July 2025
GlobalItaly
Link copied to clipboard
July 11, 20...
11/07/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Will Release Death Inc. Seasons 1, 2 and 3
Entertainment
11 July 2025
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Season 1
Season 2
Se...
11/07/2025
Ceramics - the humble mix of earth, fire and artistry - have been part of a global conversation for millennia.
From Tang Dynasty trade routes to Renaissance pa...
10/07/2025
NEW YORK - July 10, 2025 - Nielsen, the global leader in audience measurement, data and analytics, today announced that it appointed Richard Pacheco as head of ...
10/07/2025
Local newscasts don't exist in a vacuum. News directors and station management constantly evaluate what's working, what isn't and perhaps most impor...
10/07/2025
Lawo has announced that Stuttgart Media University (Hochschule der Medien, HdM) has comprehensively modernized its central recording studio after selecting an I...
10/07/2025
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) has opened early-bird registration for the Media Technology Summit, which will take place in a ne...