NEXTEL PROPOSES MAJOR SPECTRUM SWAP WITH PUBLIC SAFETY USERS
Nextel made proposal at FCC Wed. for spectrum swap that would realign frequencies at 700, 800 and 900 MHz bands, in part by more than doubling public safety’s current allocation of 9.5 MHz of noncontiguous spectrum at 800 MHz. Nextel said proposal, text of which it hadn’t made available by our deadline, would separate channel blocks used by cellular and other wireless providers from of public safety systems. As we reported earlier, public safety users would have access to 20 MHz of contiguous spectrum in lower 800 MHz band, prospect that some public safety officials have lauded because it would align that spectrum with public safety spectrum at 700 MHz (CD Nov 19 p4). Under white paper submitted to Commission, Nextel said it would exchange 16 MHz of its spectrum to make realignment work. It would swap 4 MHz in 700 MHz band, 8 MHz of specialized mobile radio spectrum in lower noncontiguous channels of 800 MHz and 4 MHz of spectrum at 900 MHz. To pave way for public safety users to implement proposal, Nextel said it would contribute up to $500 million to cover re-tuning costs that incumbent users would face.
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In return for spectrum, Nextel said it would receive another 16 MHz, including 6 MHz in upper 800 MHz band and 10 MHz in 2.1 GHz band. It said its existing contiguous block of 10 MHz in upper 800 MHz band wouldn’t be affected. It said it didn’t anticipate “any adverse impact on its ability to serve” customers and its net spectrum allocation would remain unchanged. “We are committed to working with the public safety community, the FCC and others to enable new spectrum allocation solutions that best meet our nation’s need and appropriately balance public needs with private interests,” Nextel Pres.-CEO Timothy Donahue said. Nextel also said it was willing to provide financial and other assistance to public safety users to ease way for implementation of proposal, including up to $500 million contribution. Besides equipment re-tuning, that sum would cover “other expenses associated with the realignment, provided the FCC adopts the proposal substantially as submitted.”
Public-private partnership that Nextel laid out to FCC aims to mitigate interference to public safety communications from commercial services at 800 MHz. Interference issues have been long-standing among public and commercial wireless users in bands such as 800 and 900 MHz, in part because spectrum is allocated in relatively small slices rather than large blocks. “ITA is very interested in the Nextel plan and we look forward to reading it and finding out how they are going to deal with a problem which has been very detrimental to the public safety industry,” said spokesman for Industrial Telecommunications Assn. late Wed. “We support solving the problem of interference, and at the same time we are going to have to analyze the plan and make sure that it is indeed a workable solution.”
Proposal, which was laid out for public safety community Oct. 24 at Nextel hq and hand-delivered to FCC Wed. afternoon, has received warm initial reception from public safety community. Harlan McEwen, chmn. of communications & technology committee of International Assn. of Chiefs of Police (IACP), said at Public Safety National Coordination Committee meeting in Brooklyn last week that his first take on proposal was that it looked promising. In short presentation during day-long meeting, he referred to problems of “severe” interference with public safety operations from commercial wireless system at 800 MHz. “Nextel was clearly aware that we had been complaining that we need additional public safety spectrum,” McEwen said. If proposal moves forward, one benefit would be that moving public safety users at 800 MHz to lower part of band would put them adjacent to spectrum set aside for those operations at 700 MHz, McEwen said. That would allow development of equipment that could interoperate in both bands. Funding and equipment re-tuning is “major issue” for public safety community, he said. Manufacturers are examining costs of retuning if spectrum is reshuffled, he said. “This is an opportunity we may not ever see again,” McEwen said.
Besides IACP, groups such as Assn. of Public-Safety Communications Officials International and International Assn. of Fire Chiefs are “seriously” examining proposal, he said. “If it’s going to happen, it could be probably one of the most significant improvements that I have seen in that many years that I have been involved in trying to get spectrum.” But changes wouldn’t come without “pain” from users who would have to retool and move their systems, he said, and details have to be worked out.