WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission has frozen all applications in the 900 MHz band following complaints by the Industrial Telecommunications Association that ACI 900 Inc., a subsidiary of Nextel Communications Inc., was attempting to gobble up all of the remaining frequencies there.
“Since Aug. 6, the commission has received over 500 applications for new 900 MHz licenses. This number of applications is significantly higher than the norm. We are concerned that additional such filings may compromise Nextel’s ability to obtain the necessary `green space’ to house some of its systems while the 800 MHz band is reconfigured to abate unacceptable interference to public safety, critical infrastructure and other `high site’ 800 MHz systems. Accordingly, we impose this `freeze’ on applications for new 900 MHz licenses, which will remain in effect until further notice,” said Michael Willhelm, chief of the public safety and critical infrastructure division of the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau.
ACI has filed “hundreds of applications seeking the use of as many as 100 channel pairs at a single transmitter site, ostensibly for private, internal communications. At other locations, ACI has filed for all of the remaining available business pool channels that are unassigned to other co-channel users,” said ITA in a letter to Willhelm. “There are slightly more than 400 ACI applications for 900 MHz trunked business use pending in the FCC’s database.”
The FCC’s 800 MHz rebanding plan calls for Nextel to use its 900 MHz frequencies to maintain service. The FCC in July adopted a plan to solve the interference problem, swap some spectrum with Nextel and have Nextel pay to move other companies off the spectrum band Nextel would receive.
“Nextel believes the FCC did the right thing in freezing the applications for this spectrum,” said Tim O’Regan, Nextel manager of public affairs.
