"The majority of professional wireless audio gear in America is about to become obsolete, and illegal to operate"

Wired:

Four years ago, in an effort to bolster the country’s tech infrastructure, the FCC decreed that the portion of the radio spectrum used by most wireless mics would be better utilized for faster and more robust mobile broadband service. Now, as the telecom companies that won the rights to that spectrum begin to use it, the prior tenants are scrambling for new radio-frequency homes.

The dispossessed are a diverse and varied lot. Wireless mics are near ubiquitous in modern life, in our schools—think lecture halls and pep rallies—our offices, our hotels and meeting halls, our entertainment venues, musical and theatrical tours, our houses of worship, and our radio and television broadcasts.

Replacing them will not be cheap. Even small community or school theaters can use 30 or more microphones, which, including ancillary gear, can cost $1,000 or more apiece. “I’ll need to replace at least 24 mics, which will cost at least 24 grand,”