Wireless mic frequencies by country

Where radio microphones and IEMs are legal to run, drawn to scale per country, with the regulator cited on every band. The map exists because the 700 MHz band was sold to mobile carriers almost everywhere, and gear that tours across borders needs to know before customs does.

The map

Country / region

Check a frequency (MHz)

Try one

licence-exempt licence required licence + coordination prohibited

Bands not drawn are not listed for that country in our data: that means "check the regulator", never "probably fine". Power limits and licence detail are in the tables below.

Why this bites touring shows

The 700 MHz sale is global. 694/698-806 MHz went to LTE/5G in the US (2009), EU and Australia (by 2015-2019), Japan (2019) and most of Asia. Inventory tuned there is not grandfathered: it is illegal to switch on.

TV white space means the locally unused channels. A band being listed does not make every megahertz usable: US, UK, DE and JP all expect you to work around the broadcasters actually on air at that postcode. Scan on site, or use the regulator's channel finder.

Coordination is part of the licence in some countries. Japan's A-type mics are scheduled with broadcasters through the 特定ラジオマイク運用調整機構; UK coordinated UHF is booked per site through Ofcom PMSE. Turning up unannounced with 40 channels is how festivals end up in the regulator's annual report.

Buying gear abroad is the classic trap. A US 600 MHz-legal system centres exactly where the EU cleared, and an EU 823-832 duplex-gap system sits inside Japan's B-type band only by luck. Match the tuning range to the country list below before money moves.

Every region, with sources

United States

Band	Status	What it is
54 - 72 MHz	licence-exempt	VHF TV band (unused channels)
76 - 88 MHz	licence-exempt	VHF TV band (unused channels)
174 - 216 MHz	licence-exempt	VHF TV band (unused channels)
470 - 608 MHz	licence-exempt	UHF TV band (unused channels); Part 74 licence available for pro users at higher power
614 - 616 MHz	licence-exempt	600 MHz guard band, 20 mW
653 - 657 MHz	licence required	600 MHz duplex gap, Part 74 licensees only
657 - 663 MHz	licence-exempt	600 MHz duplex gap, 20 mW
941.5 - 960 MHz	licence required	Part 74 segments (941.5-944, 944-952, 952.85-956.25, 956.45-959.85)
1435 - 1525 MHz	licence + coordination	Aeronautical telemetry band: licensed, per-event coordination
6875 - 7125 MHz	licence required	Part 74 segments 6875-6900 / 7100-7125

TV-band operation means the locally unused channels: run a scan. The old 600 MHz core (614-653 except the slices above) and 700 MHz are mobile now.

Sources: 47 CFR 15.236 (unlicensed wireless microphones) · FCC wireless microphones rulemaking (2024)

Canada

Band	Status	What it is
54 - 72 MHz	licence-exempt	TV band (unused channels)
76 - 88 MHz	licence-exempt	TV band (unused channels)
150 - 174 MHz	licence required	Land-mobile VHF, max 50 mW
174 - 216 MHz	licence-exempt	TV band (unused channels)
470 - 608 MHz	licence-exempt	UHF TV band (unused channels)

Mirrors the US TV-band picture: 600/700 MHz are mobile.

Sources: APWPT wireless microphone frequency handout (2024)

United Kingdom

Band	Status	What it is
173.7 - 175.1 MHz	licence-exempt	VHF licence-exempt
175.25 - 209.8 MHz	licence required	15 VHF spot frequencies, shared PMSE licence
470 - 694 MHz	licence + coordination	Interleaved UHF TV channels, coordinated PMSE licence per site
606.5 - 613.5 MHz	licence required	Channel 38, UK-wide shared PMSE licence (10 mW handheld / 50 mW bodyworn)
863.1 - 864.9 MHz	licence-exempt	Channel 70 licence-exempt (10 mW handheld / 50 mW bodyworn)

Ch 70 is where cheap systems fight each other; anything serious books coordinated UHF through Ofcom PMSE.

Sources: Ofcom shared PMSE licence · Ofcom PMSE licence information

EU (harmonised)

Band	Status	What it is
823 - 832 MHz	licence-exempt	800 MHz duplex gap: 13 dBm handheld / 20 dBm bodyworn in 823-826, 20 dBm in 826-832
1785 - 1805 MHz	licence-exempt	1800 MHz duplex gap, sub-band power limits

Decision 2014/641/EU harmonises these two gaps EU-wide and obliges members to find at least 30 MHz more in 470-790 TV white space; the white-space detail is national, so check the local regulator too.

Sources: Commission Implementing Decision 2014/641/EU

Germany

Band	Status	What it is
174 - 230 MHz	licence-exempt	VHF general assignment, 50 mW
470 - 608 MHz	licence-exempt	UHF TV white space, general assignment
614 - 698 MHz	licence-exempt	UHF TV white space, general assignment
823 - 832 MHz	licence-exempt	EU duplex gap
1785 - 1805 MHz	licence-exempt	EU duplex gap

BNetzA general assignments (Allgemeinzuteilungen); individual licences exist beyond these.

Sources: APWPT wireless microphone frequency handout (2024)

Japan

Band	Status	What it is
470 - 710 MHz	licence + coordination	特定ラジオマイク (A-type): DTT white space, licence + 特ラ機構 coordination
710 - 714 MHz	licence + coordination	Dedicated specified-radio-mic band, licence + coordination
806 - 810 MHz	licence-exempt	B-type (小電力): licence-free
1240 - 1260 MHz	licence + coordination	1.2 GHz specified-radio-mic band, licence + coordination

The old A band 770-806 closed in 2019. A-type quality systems are licensed AND schedule-coordinated through the 特定ラジオマイク運用調整機構.

Sources: 特定ラジオマイク運用調整機構 Q&A · Shure Japan: 特定ラジオマイクの周波数帯移行

South Korea

Band	Status	What it is
72.61 - 73.91 MHz	licence-exempt	Licence-exempt, 10 mW
74 - 74.8 MHz	licence-exempt	Licence-exempt, 10 mW
470 - 698 MHz	licence required	Broadcast band, licensed, max 50 mW

Sources: APWPT wireless microphone frequency handout (2024)

Hong Kong

Open gap: This row lists only the licence-exempt spot frequencies, and they are NOT the whole picture. Hong Kong venues run professional UHF systems every night, type-approved to HKCA 1008 (low power radio microphones, 20 mW), and OFCA also assigns spectrum case by case under a private radio system licence (GN-5/2018). The UHF band plan those run under is published by OFCA in the Table of Frequency Allocations and in OFCA I 402, neither of which was reachable from this build environment, so it is deliberately not transcribed here rather than guessed. If you have the OFCA I 402 radio-microphone rows or an assignment letter in front of you, that is the PR that closes this. Claim it →

Band	Status	What it is
33.12 - 33.16 MHz	licence-exempt	Exempt spot frequency 33.14 MHz, 20 mW e.r.p.
36.38 - 36.42 MHz	licence-exempt	Exempt spot frequency 36.40 MHz, 20 mW e.r.p.
36.53 - 36.57 MHz	licence-exempt	Exempt spot frequency 36.55 MHz, 20 mW e.r.p.
36.68 - 36.72 MHz	licence-exempt	Exempt spot frequency 36.70 MHz, 20 mW e.r.p.
36.83 - 36.87 MHz	licence-exempt	Exempt spot frequency 36.85 MHz, 20 mW e.r.p.
36.96 - 37.24 MHz	licence-exempt	Exempt block carrying the 37.10 MHz mic frequency, 20 mW e.r.p.
42.87 - 42.91 MHz	licence-exempt	Exempt spot frequency 42.89 MHz, 20 mW e.r.p.
44.85 - 44.89 MHz	licence-exempt	Exempt spot frequency 44.87 MHz, 20 mW e.r.p.
174 - 184 MHz	licence required	VHF, via a private radio system licence, 20 mW

Broadcasting holds 614-806 MHz on a primary basis in Hong Kong, with 678-686 and 798-806 MHz co-primary with mobile, so UHF mic use is a white-space question, not a free-for-all: scan on site and work around what is on air.

Sources: OFCA: wireless microphones (consumer guide) · HKCA 1008: Performance Specification for Low Power Radio Microphones · OFCA I 402: Telecommunications (Telecommunications Apparatus) (Exemption from Licensing) Order · Hong Kong Table of Frequency Allocations · GN-5/2018: Guidelines for application for private radio system licences

Taiwan

Band	Status	What it is
227.1 - 227.4 MHz	licence-exempt	LP0002 低功率無線麥克風 VHF segment
229.4 - 230 MHz	licence-exempt	LP0002 低功率無線麥克風 VHF segment
231 - 231.9 MHz	licence-exempt	LP0002 低功率無線麥克風 VHF segment
510 - 530 MHz	licence-exempt	LP0002 UHF segment - the one most rental stock is tuned to
748 - 758 MHz	licence-exempt	LP0002 UHF segment inside what most countries sold to mobile
803 - 806 MHz	licence-exempt	LP0002 UHF segment inside what most countries sold to mobile

Occupied bandwidth is capped at 200 kHz below 1 GHz and 600 kHz above it, so a wideband system legal elsewhere can fail here on bandwidth alone. Note the 748-758 and 803-806 segments: Taiwan keeps mic allocations inside the 700/800 MHz range that the US, EU, Japan and Australia cleared for mobile, so a system bought for Taiwan is illegal in most of them, and vice versa. Check the current LP0002 revision before ordering: the band table has moved before.

Sources: NCC 低功率射頻器材技術規範 LP0002 (113.02.06 修訂) · LP0002 as published in the 行政院公報

China (mainland)

Open gap: The governing document is MIIT Announcement 2019 No. 52 and its annex 《微功率短距离无线电发射设备目录和技术要求》, which lists the device categories that need no frequency licence, no station licence and no type approval, with a band and power limit for each. The radio-microphone rows of that annex were not retrievable from this build environment, so this row stays empty rather than guessed. Transcribing those rows, with the announcement cited, closes this gap. Claim it →

Whatever the annex allows, the spurious-emission limit of -54 dBm across 48.5-72.5, 76-108, 167-223, 470-566 and 606-798 MHz applies, which is what catches imported gear at type approval.

Sources: 工业和信息化部公告 2019年第52号 (policy explainer, gov.cn)

Singapore

Band	Status	What it is
470 - 694 MHz	licence-exempt	Exempt at up to 10 mW ERP (TV band)

703-803 MHz went to mobile with the 2017 700 MHz allocation, stranding pre-2018 systems tuned there.

Sources: Wireless microphone bandwidth shrinking in Singapore (IMDA changes)

Australia

Band	Status	What it is
88 - 108 MHz	licence-exempt	FM band: audio transmitters and auditory assistance only
174 - 230 MHz	licence-exempt	VHF: many regional areas, check Channel Finder
520 - 694 MHz	licence-exempt	UHF TV white space under the LIPD class licence; 520-526 available nationwide
694 - 820 MHz	prohibited	Cleared to mobile in 2015: wireless mics banned
915 - 928 MHz	licence-exempt	915-928 (not on exactly 915)
1785 - 1800 MHz	licence-exempt	Dedicated wireless-audio band, available everywhere

Sources: ACMA: wireless microphones

Missing your country, or holding a licence document that pins a gap above? Open an issue - regulatory rows only merge with a regulator or equivalent citation.