WASHINGTON-A plan is beginning to gel at the Federal Communications Commission to solve the public-safety interference problem in the 800 MHz band and give Nextel Communications Inc. some of the spectrum it desires in the 1.9 GHz band.
If the current plan is adopted, the 800 MHz band would be rebanded to separate cellularized and non-cellularized systems, Nextel would get spectrum in the 1.9 GHz, but not the entire 10 megahertz it requested, and the money arrangements to pay for moving public-safety and private-wireless would be altered.
In other words, it is an altered version of the “Consensus Plan” presented by Nextel, private-wireless advocates and some public-safety advocates.
Needless to say, those opposed to the Consensus Plan are outraged.
“If this plan is in fact reality, this constitutes a give away. No question about it. The Federal Communications Commission has become the `Federal Exchange Spectrum Commission,’ said Brian Fontes, vice president of federal affairs for Cingular Wireless L.L.C. and a leading opponent of the Nextel/private-wireless/public-safety proposal to shuffle the licensees at 800 MHz. “It is a cross between `Show me the money,’ `The Price is Right,’ and the `Gong Show.”‘
And it appears Fontes and other opponents’ worries are justified.
“I believe that the FCC believes re-banding is necessary, but that they are struggling with how to do it in a way that is both bullet-proof and fair to everyone,” said Alan Tilles.
Tilles represents the City of Denver, which has come out in strong support of the Consensus Plan. Denver has entered into an agreement to solve its public-safety interference problem. It is based on the belief that the Consensus Plan will be adopted.
Denver has discovered 24 different locations where public-safety radios have the potential of experiencing interference. While it has worked out a plan to mitigate most of the interference with Nextel, it believes some of the interference is being caused by AT&T Wireless Services Inc., and that has not been solved. Even though Denver complained of interference in June, as of Sept. 17, when city representatives held meetings at the FCC, “AT&T (Wireless) is still causing interference and has not implemented any mitigation-even on Denver control channels,” according to a filing at the FCC.
John Muleta, chief of the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, seems particularly enamored with the Denver situation. Muleta singled out Denver during his recent press conference. “The City of Denver has done a very good job of collapsing the 11,000 pages in the record,” he said on Sept. 23. “They provide very good information.”
While many industry sources believed last week that the plan the FCC is putting together has the support of FCC Chairman Michael Powell, it now appears that someone at the FCC may have leaked details to lobbyists to garner reaction.
“They want to have all of their ducks in a row before presenting a recommendation to the rest of the commission,” said an industry source who declined to be named.
`We have not yet presented any recommendations,” said Bryan Tramont, FCC chief of staff. “The chairman’s office does not have a full proposal.”
Nextel refused to say whether the plan, which gives them contiguous spectrum in the 800 MHz band but gives them no more than six megahertz (a pair of two-megahertz slices or a pair of three-megahertz slices) in the 1.9 GHz band, is acceptable.
“We are not in a negotiating position,” said Lawrence Krevor, Nextel vice president of government affairs. “The only viable solution is to change the situation-eradicate the conditions which caused the interference, and the only plan that does that is the Consensus Plan.”
It also appears the FCC would like Nextel to change its offer of $850 million to pay to re-tune public-safety and private-wireless radios. The $850 million is actually a cap; the company has agreed to pay only $25 million up-front. There is concern that this amount will not be enough so Nextel might have to pony up more money up-front or eliminate the cap or both.
Public safety would like “a more open-ended financial commitment. There have been concerns whether the $850 million is enough,” said Robert Gurss, Washington counsel for the Association of Public-safety Communications Officials. “As long as we get what we need, which is the additional spectrum at 800 MHz and we don’t have to pay for it, the rest of the aspects of the plan are not as important to us, although we realize they are important to the overall plan.”
Private wireless is adamant that it will not move unless someone else pays the bill. “No licensee that does not receive compensation will move,” said Jeremy Denton, director of government affairs for the Industrial Telecommunications Association, which represents private-wireless licensees.
This proposal bypasses using technical solutions, championed by Edmond Thomas, chief of the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology. While Powell has said Thomas and Muleta both will agree on the final plan, FCC insiders believe Muleta is now running the 800 MHz show.
While there are a variety of different options that could be used, there are only two plans on the table.
The Consensus Plan splits the 800 MHz band into two parts. The balanced-approach proposal calls for timely resolution of interference at the expense of the interferer.
