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Broadway Must Vacate Airwaves, Revamp Wireless Mics

Bloomberg, Monday, January 18, 2010 11:31 PM

Broadway theaters, churches and other users of wireless microphones were given five months to vacate U.S. airwaves that regulators say are needed for high-speed Web services planned by companies including AT&T Inc. The FCC set a June 12 deadline for the switch. AT&T and Verizon Wireless, the two largest U.S. mobile-phone companies, won a 2008 auction for rights to the airwaves.

Broadway productions of "Wicked" and "The Phantom of the Opera, as well as sporting events and concerts, are likely to be affected. The cost may reach $100,000 for a theater to replace microphones with those that use different airwaves. TV broadcasters left those airwaves in a transition to digital service that ended last June. In some cities public safety agencies have begun using the 700 megahertz frequencies.

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