WASHINGTON-Nextel Communications Inc. filed its most detailed letter yet about its concerns about the retuning process contemplated by the Federal Communications Commission in its plan to solve public-safety interference in the 800 MHz band.
“Nextel has identified a number of areas in which clarification of the rules will serve the public interest by assuring that 800 MHz band reconfiguration is achieved in accordance with the FCC’s public policy objectives. Nextel emphasized in meetings with commission staff the importance of operational flexibility for all incumbents during the retuning process and specifically for Nextel as it undertakes repeated retuning of its network on a region-by-region basis to facilitate reconfiguration and accommodate the retuning of other incumbents,” wrote Regina Keeney, former chief of the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and Nextel outside counsel.
The letter was sent the day after Verizon Wireless sent a blistering letter to the FCC charging that the FCC is illegally negotiating with Nextel on how Nextel could reduce the amount it could potentially owe the government at the end of the process.
The Keeney letter does not discuss the spectrum valuation at the center of Verizon’s claims. It does say that Nextel has asked that it be given credit for “the costs it incurs in adding base stations necessary to maintain its existing network capacity during the band reconfiguration transition process.” There is also a sentence at the end indicating Nextel will file next week updated information regarding what licenses it currently holds and would return as part of the rebanding.
The FCC in July adopted a plan to solve the 800 MHz public-safety interference problem, swap some spectrum with Nextel and have Nextel pay to move other companies off the spectrum band Nextel would receive. The FCC released the text of the plan-256 pages-in early August. It has yet to be published in the Federal Register. Nextel has 30 days from publication in the Federal Register to say whether it will agree to the plan.
FCC Chairman Michael Powell called on Congress last week to codify the agency’s recently adopted plan to solve public-safety interference in the 800 MHz band.
Such a move would mean that Nextel would not have to approve the measure to swap spectrum so Nextel’s commercial system would not interfere with public-safety networks and Verizon Wireless could not sue on the grounds that the FCC violated the Communications Act by not auctioning spectrum in the 1.9 GHz band.
Powell suggested to reporters following his appearance before the Senate Commerce Committee that language could be easily passed to say that notwithstanding any other provision of law, the FCC’s action is the law of the land.
