PUBLIC NOTICE Federal Communications Commission 445 12th St., S.W. Washington, D.C. 20554 News Media Information 202 / 418-0500 Fax-On-Demand 202 / 418-2830 TTY 202 / 418-2555 Internet: http://www.fcc.gov ftp.fcc.gov DA 13-1221 Released: May 29, 2013 The Office of Engineering and Technology and the Media Bureau Announce the Availability of a Special Webpage Facility for Update of TV Translator, Low Power TV and Class A Station Input Channels in the CDBS As part of their efforts towards implementing the rules for operation of unlicensed devices on unused spectrum in the broadcast television frequency bands (TV white spaces), the Commission’s Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) and Media Bureau (MB) have developed a special webpage facility (webapp) where TV translator, low power TV and Class A TV stations (low power stations) can quickly and easily update their input channel data in the Media Bureau’s Consolidated Database System (CDBS). This facility is especially important for low power stations that are located outside of the service contours of the station(s) that they re-transmit. The new input channel update facility is available at https://apps.fcc.gov/oet/translator/. TV translators and many low power TV and Class A TV stations provide simultaneous re-transmission of the program service of full power TV stations. These stations typically receive this programming service over-the-air from the originating station’s broadcast signal (or in some cases the signal of another low power station) and then re-transmit that programming on their own channel. The Commission’s rules generally provide for protection of TV signals received over-the-air by a low power station and used as part of that station's service (input channels) from interference caused by unlicensed TV white space (TVWS) devices. This protection is provided through TVWS database systems, which are accessed by TVWS devices to obtain lists of channels that are available for operation. The TVWS database systems provide protection based on records drawn from the CDBS. Low power stations that are located outside of the originating station’s service contour but within 80 kilometers of those station’s contours are protected by preventing TVWS devices from operating on their input channels in the vicinity of the receive site. This protection is provided for the input channels recorded in the CDBS records of the low power station. If the low power TV station is located within the service contour of the full power station (or other originating station), its input channels are protected by the rules prohibiting operation of TVWS devices within the service contours of the full- and low-power TV stations. The input channels of low power stations located more than 80 km from the service contours of the full service stations transmitting those channels are not protected unless the Commission has granted a waiver. During the digital television transition that ended on June 12, 2009, many full power stations changed their operating channels. Low power stations re-transmitting such stations have had to make corresponding changes to their equipment. A significant number of those low power stations have not updated their input channels in the CDBS. The input channels of low power stations falling into this 2category can only be protected if they are properly recorded in the CDBS. It is therefore essential that these stations review their CDBS records regarding input channels and provide corrections and updates as necessary. The new webpage facility that OET and MB are announcing herein will provide licensees of low power stations with a simple and efficient utility for updating their input channel information in the CDBS. There is no fee for low power stations to update their input channels. Questions regarding this Public Notice may be directed to Alan Stillwell at (202) 418-2470, Hugh L. Van Tuyl at (202) 418-7506 or Hossein Hashemzadeh at (202) 418-1658. By the Chief, Office of Engineering and Technology and Chief, Media Bureau. -FCC-