tinitcd ~tares ~cnatc WASHINGTON, DC 20510 Tom Wheeler Chairman Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street SW Washington, DC 20554 Dear Chairman Wheeler, August 5, 2015 We are writing to request a three month delay in the Commiss ion 's consideration of teclmical rules for the use of Channel 37 by unlicensed TV White Space ("TVWS") devices. Because the availability of Channel 37 for use by unlicensed devices has already been determined , a three month delay in establishing teclmical rul es would not impact the timing or pla1ming for the incentive auction. It is imperative that the Commission establish fully adequate teclmical rules for sharing, as those rules wi ll impact the safety and use of critical medical monitoring technology fo r hospitals. We strongl y urge you to give the medical technology stakeholders and the unlicensed community more time to work out a technical sharing agreement that will maintain the safe use of all devices in Channel 37. Wireless medical telemetry service ("WMTS") systems for cardiac and fetal monitoring in hospitals have long used Chanel 37 to operate without interference, which could severely impact patient health and safety. Hospitals and professionals rely on WMTS every second of every day to keep patients al ive and safe. It is essential that WMTS devices can continue to operate without any interference from TVWS devices. As such, we urge you to give fu ll and fair consideration to the comments submitted by more than 150 hospitals in over 40 states, as well as many nurses and other medical professionals, regarding the critical nature and substantial benefits of WMTS. The record also includes the results ofreal-world testing at three different hospitals demonstrating that interference to WMTS systems will be caused by a TVWS devices operating at the initial power-levels and distances proposed by the Commission. We are encouraged that the WMTS Coalition and the unlicensed community have been working together to establi sh criteria that could be adopted by the Commission for when, where, and how unlicensed TVWS devices could operate on Channel 37, while ensuring that safety of life WMTS systems are not interfered with. We believe that this type of cooperation should be encouraged, and the parties should be given the time they need to arrive at a mutually agreed upon solution that protects WMTS systems and allows unlicensed TVWS devices to proliferate to the maximum extent technically possible around hospitals. The Commission should not to rush the highly technical decisions regarding sharing of Channel 37, particularly when patient safety is at issue and when a short delay to enable continued stakeholder discussions would not delay the start date of the auction. Therefore, we ask you to remove consideration of the Channel 3 7 issues from the Repo11 and Order in the Pait 15 Rulemaking that will be considered at the Commission 's August Open Meeting in order to give 809 the stakeholders at least tluˇee more months to forge an industry so lution that protects patients while enabling the safe use ofTVWS devices . 'l. i.ut l~+y Baldwin Uruted States Senator Sincerely, ......,-""'""1y Klobuchar U nited States Senator Debbie Stabenow United States Senator -