WASHINGTON—Sprint Nextel Corp. signed an 800 MHz planning-funding agreement with the State of Utah and hopes to have a completed frequency-relocation agreement completed by June 30, the company announced.
The Utah Communications Agency Network, which serves 115 public-safety agencies covering 12 counties and 85 percent of the population of the Beehive State, is part of the first wave of licensees to be retuned as part of the Federal Communications Commission’s plan to reduce public-safety interference in the 800 MHz band. Final frequency-relocation agreements were supposed to be signed before the end of last year for Wave 1, but the UCAN-Sprint Nextel agreement represents a milestone of sorts since it is the first large system to use the 800 MHz Transition Administrator’s new system for planning funding.
“Utah serves as an example of how an appropriate planning funding agreement can be reached in a complicated spectrum environment. The size of this system and the number of users, combined with the diverse geography of Utah and costs associated with reconfiguration set a good example of how the TA’s template for planning funding can be used to its fullest potential in all of the different venues where public safety must operate,” said Sandy Edwards, Sprint Nextel’s vice president of spectrum.
The issue of planning funding has been bubbling under the surface of the 800 MHz rebanding process for months. Public-safety licensees say it is very difficult for them to enter negotiations unless they know they will be reimbursed for their troubles. When the first wave of licensees entered the mandated alternative dispute resolution process late last year, funding was one of the first issues addressed. The second wave is already well into the negotiation process. Recently, the TA said it was taking a more proactive role in the planning-funding process.
“Our negotiations with Sprint Nextel have resulted in a fair deal for public safety in Utah,” said Steve Proctor, UCAN executive director.
UCAN was redesigned in time for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. During those games, UCAN supported 15,600 users processing 8.5 million radio calls in 17 days—approximately 500,000 calls in each 24-hour period. The normal UCAN traffic flow is 15,000 users processing 230,000 calls in each 24-hour period.
The FCC in 2004 said it wanted to reconfigure the 800 MHz band, changing it from slices of various types of licenses—public safety, enhanced specialized mobile radio and private wireless—to a band with three distinct sections: public safety, cellular and non-cellular. Sprint Nextel is paying to retune public-safety and private-wireless licensees in the 800 MHz band. As part of the deal, Sprint Nextel is giving up 700 MHz and some 800 MHz channels in return for 10 megahertz of spectrum in the 1.9 GHz band.
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