WASHINGTON-Nextel Communications Inc. should deposit at least $3 billion in a trust fund and receive spectrum in the 2.1 GHz band instead of the 1.9 GHz band in a plan to solve public-safety interference in the 800 MHz band proposed late Thursday by the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association.
“This compromise puts public safety first, and that’s the most important thing. Public safety has been swinging in the wind for too long. This proposal ends public-safety radio interference in a prescribed period of time and makes sure the costs of rebanding are completely covered. The plan is also legally sustainable, doesn’t put any one company at an advantage and gives Nextel the spectrum it had originally asked for,” said CTIA President Steve Largent.
Nextel disagrees strongly with the word “compromise.”
“A compromise is one of which all of the parties come together, and we were not involved,” said Lawrence Krevor, Nextel vice president of government affairs.
CTIA long ago broke with Nextel on a solution to solve public-safety interference in the 800 MHz band. It has consistently called for a plan that would not involve rebanding the 800 MHz band. Known as the Balanced Approach Plan, CTIA’S original proposal calls for timely resolution of interference at the expense of the interferer, coupled with technical rules, notification and coordination procedures to prevent new interference.
Nextel said it was given less than 24 hours notice of a conference call to vote on the new proposal and was not offered a draft. It chose not to participate in the call.
In addition to setting up the $3 billion public-safety trust fund, Nextel would receive permission to use spectrum in the 2.1 GHz band as the proposal moves forward rather than in one nationwide 10-megahertz license.
“Nextel and public safety would complete rebanding on a market-by-market basis; upon certification of completion of rebanding in each market, Nextel would receive a portion of the 2.1 GHz spectrum in that market; upon completion of rebanding nationally and meeting its obligation to provide $3 billion in funding, Nextel would receive the remaining 2.1 GHz spectrum for each market,” said CTIA.
