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 PUBLIC  NOTICE  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12  th  St.,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  News  Media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  TTY:  1-  888-  835-  5322 
 PRESS  CONTACT:  DA  05-  424  Bruce  Romano:  202-  418-  2124  February  15,  2005 


 Consumers  May  Experience  Interference  To  Their  Garage  Door  Opener  Controls  Near  Military  Bases 
 Consumers  near  certain  military  installations  have  recently  experienced  interference  to  their  garage  door  opener  controls  that  may  reduce  the  operating  distance  or  cause  the  device  to 
 stop  operating.  This  public  notice  is  issued  to  explain  the  cause  of  the  interference  and  the  steps  being  taken  to  alleviate  this  problem.  The  vast  majority  of  consumers  will  not  experience  any 
 interference  to  their  garage  door  opener  controls. 
 Garage  door  openers  operate,  legally  under  Part  15  of  the  Commissions  rules,  at  very  low  power  on  an  “unlicensed  basis,”  and  have  been  permitted  to  operate  on  frequencies  that  have 
 been  reserved  for  the  federal  government  since  WWII  for  air/  ground  communications  systems,  but  received  limited  use  by  the  government  for  many  years.  As  unlicensed  devices,  there  is  no 
 right  to  protection  from  interference.  However,  because  of  this  limited  use,  the  risk  of  interference  was  similarly  limited,  so  manufacturers  of  garage  door  openers  chose  these 
 frequencies  for  their  transmit  and  receive  devices.  In  response  to  the  increased  needs  of  homeland  security,  the  Department  of  Defense  now  must  make  more  use  of  these  frequencies  to 
 deploy  new  mobile  radio  systems  on  and  around  certain  military  bases. 
 Some  consumers  near  these  bases  may  experience  interference  to  their  garage  door  openers  that  can  reduce  operating  range  or  cause  the  remote  control  to  cease  functioning.  This 
 interference  will  not  cause  the  garage  doors  to  open  or  close  on  their  own.  Inside  the  garage,  wall-  mounted  push  buttons  will  not  be  affected  by  any  interference  that  might  occur,  and  will 
 continue  to  operate  normally. 
 It  is  not  possible  to  predict  in  advance  which  specific  users  or  locations  near  military  bases  may  experience  interference,  because  of  the  variety  of  technical  characteristics  of  garage 
 door  controls  and  configuration  of  the  mobile  radio  systems.  The  Department  of  Defense  is  working  with  the  National  Telecommunications  and  Information  Administration  to  make 
 reasonable  effort  consistent  with  their  mission  requirements,  and  the  Federal  Communications  Commission  is  working  with  the  garage  door  opener  industry  to  make  every  effort  on  their  part, 
 to  minimize  the  impact  to  consumers. 
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 For  security  reasons,  the  Department  of  Defense  cannot  make  information  broadly  available  in  advance  as  to  the  deployment  of  the  new  mobile  radio  systems.  Individual  base 
 commanders  may  make  some  information  available  to  their  local  communities  when  appropriate. 
 Garage  door  opener  manufacturers  stand  ready  to  help  consumers  resolve  any  interference  to  their  systems,  including,  in  some  cases,  making  available  for  purchase,  a 
 replacement  transmitter  and  receiver  that  operate  on  a  different  frequency  that  is  not  used  by  the  new  mobile  radio  systems. 


 Consumers  experiencing  interference  should  contact  the  manufacturer  of  the  door  opener  control  or  their  local  installer  for  information  on  available  immediate  solutions. 
 For  further  information  on  this  Public  Notice,  please  contact  the  FCC  Call  Center  at  1-  888-  CALL-  FCC  (1-  888-  225-  5322). 
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