WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission is requesting comments on the plan submitted on Christmas Eve by the private-wireless and public-safety communities and Nextel Communications Inc. to solve the public-safety interference problem in the 800 MHz band.
Comments are due Feb. 3 with replies due Feb. 18.
The Consensus Plan would split the 800 MHz band into two parts-one for cellularized systems and one for non-cellularized systems. The most controversial aspect of the plan is that Nextel would receive 10 megahertz of spectrum in the 1.9 GHz band (1910-1915/1990-1995 MHz). To sweeten the pot, Nextel has agreed to pay $850 million to relocate incumbents at 800 MHz. This amount is $350 million more than it originally proposed.
