WASHINGTON-As part of its plan to solve public-safety interference in the 800 MHz band, the Federal Communications Commission is creating a Transition Administrator to facilitate the shuffling of the 800 MHz band.
“The Transition Administrator will perform a variety of administrative functions and mediate or refer to mediation, any disputes that may arise in connection with band reconfiguration. Should any such disputes not be resolved by mediation, the Transition Administrator will compile a record and transmit it to the FCC,” said the commission in the text of its order released Aug. 6. “We believe that reliance on the expertise of our existing frequency coordinators, together with our use of the services of an independent Transition Administrator is preferable to the Consensus Plan’s proposed Relocation Coordination Committee and multiple committees. Moreover, given the detailed guidelines under which the coordinators and Transition Administrator will operate, coupled with the procedures for ongoing FCC review, we conclude that commission use of such expertise and services is well within our authority.”
If it accepts the plan, Nextel Communications Inc. will pay for the Transition Administrator as part of the relocation expenses. The Transition Administrator’s salary and expenses will be included in the credit Nextel receives. Nextel is required to pay money into the treasury if the value of the spectrum it returns and relocation expenses do not equal $4.86 billion.
The Transition Administrator search committee is to meet before Aug. 21, according to the document. This is before Nextel, which is a member of the search committee, is required to say publicly whether it will accept the plan. It does not have to accept the plan until 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.
“The fact the search committee would meet before we know whether Nextel accepts is a way to get things moving as soon as possible,” said an FCC official, who declined to be named. “This is something the commissioners thought could be done before we actually know whether Nextel accepts. We have chosen to require an action that can reasonably be taken even before Nextel signs on the dotted line.”
Nextel did not immediately respond to a request for comment as to whether it will say whether it accepts the plan before the search committee meets.
In addition to Nextel, the other members of the Transition Administrator search committee include the United Telecom Council, the Association of Public-safety Communications Officials, the Industrial Telecommunications Association and SouthernLinc.
