Paully_44 wrote:Failure to comply with this FCC requirement may lead to civil and/or criminal penalties. This will be determined by the FCC and law enforcement on a case by case basis.
That's standard boilerplate text. Any time you are utilizing a radio frequency in a manner in which you are not authorized to do so, you may incur civil and/or criminal penalties. Various parts of the radio spectrum are subject to different rules and regulations set forth by the FCC. One example is amateur radio. Operating on amateur radio frequencies requires an FCC license (which I have.) FCC Part 97 sets forth the laws regarding operation on those bands. Since I have a license, I am free to talk on these bands (within the privileges my class of license grant me -- defined in Part 97.) However, there are certain acts such as profanity and broadcasting music (except when such music is incidental as part of a space shuttle retransmission), etc. If I perform any of those prohibited acts, I'm then subject to civil and/or criminal penalties if the FCC finds out.
That said, to answer your question of how it will be monitored... I'm not sure. Amateur radio is self-policing, so when we hear violations, we report them to the FCC. Other bands, such as CB, aren't really actively monitored, and the only time you (usually) get into hot water for running illegal power levels, etc. is when you are creating interference and someone complains. Those using CB generally don't report violations by fellow users to the FCC.
From what I have read, it'll probably work a lot like other public service bands. If your wireless mics start interfering with police/fire/EMS/etc. you will probably be tracked down. It is possible to find the source of a radio signal (Google for triangulation)
as long as it is transmitting. Keep in mind that churches are an easy target because they transmit on a regular, known basis. If they're on your trail and service ends, they can just pick up where they left off next time you have service. Plus, wireless mics generally don't broadcast that far (at least, not the ones I have seen), so any police/fire/EMS/etc. experiencing interference as a result of your wireless mics are probably going to be sitting within a block of your building anyway.
So... it stinks that they are re-allocating the "free" spectrum that was once used with wireless mics, and it's probably going to turn into an enforcement problem for years to come. There will almost certainly be a lot of churches and other groups with sound techs who learned from someone else, who learned from someone else, who have no clue about how this works, only that you turn it on and it works... and those will be broadcasting on 700MHz for years to come, unless someone shuts them down first. Then you'll have your techs who simply don't care, or won't be able to afford new equipment. Of course, if you are in an area where this spectrum won't be used for its new purpose, you may be able to fly "under the radar" for years to come. But, if you get busted, you should go ahead and break out the checkbook.