Sprint Nextel chided for missing rebanding deadlines

Sprint Nextel Corp. rejected a Federal Communications Commission finding that the No. 3 mobile phone carrier failed to meet a key deadline for clearing certain spectrum as part of an 800 MHz rebanding process. The process is intended to remedy public-safety interference problems, and policymakers want the issue to be completed by June.
“Sprint Nextel has and continues to work diligently to carry out its 800 MHz reconfiguration responsibilities prudently and expeditiously,” the company said. “Great progress is occurring: Phase I retuning is complete in 29 NPSPAC markets, thousands of public-safety radios are being retuned and more than 35 public safety retunes are complete. An additional 100 more public-safety licensees have firm implementation dates and schedules, many of these are expected to be finished in 2007 and another 100 will have firm dates soon. While we disagree with the commission’s finding that Sprint did not meet the 18-month initial benchmark and stand by our January 2007 progress report, until we have an opportunity to review the details of what the FCC has implemented, we can’t comment further. In the meantime, we will continue to work with all stakeholders to complete the 800 MHz reconfiguration.”
The agency ordered Sprint Nextel to complete clearing all Channel 1-120 incumbents in non-border areas, other than those of Sprint Nextel and regional iDEN provider SouthernLINC, by late December. Moreover, the ruling requires Sprint Nextel to clear its own Channel 1-120 facilities and those of SouthernLINC within three months of a request by a public-safety licensee to use those channels. For public-safety requests made on or after January 1, 2008, Sprint Nextel must clear the necessary spectrum within 60 days of the request, the FCC ruling stated.
The FCC also affirmed that at the conclusion of the 36-month transition period in June 2008, Sprint Nextel must vacate its remaining spectrum in Channels 1-120, as well as other portions of the 800 MHz band that are to be made available to public safety in accordance with prior commission orders. The commission said that under limited circumstances Sprint Nextel may petition to remain on channels 1-120.
Six National Public Safety Planning Advisory Committee licensees in Georgia and Pennsylvania were granted extensions through March 2009 to complete rebanding because of their close proximity to incumbent analog broadcasters using TV channel 69. The FCC said it permitted the public-safety groups to postpone their base station infrastructure retuning until after these broadcasters have vacated the spectrum as part of the nationwide digital television transition.
The FCC approved 800 MHz rebanding rules in late 2004, but formal implementation did not begin until June 2005. Since then, public-safety organizations and Sprint Nextel have traded barbs over the uneven ebb and flow of the process.
Federal regulators said they expect cooperation among all major stakeholders in the 800 MHz rebanding.
“The obligation to complete the rebanding process does not fall on Sprint alone, but requires all stakeholders to redouble their efforts,” said FCC Chairman Kevin Martin. “The commission will continue to do its part to ensure that the 800 MHz rebanding process is completed in a timely and efficient manner, minimizing the burden on public safety, and preserving public safety’s ability to operate during the transition. To do otherwise would abdicate our responsibility at a time when it is more important than ever to ensure that first responders have the communications capabilities they need to provide for the safety of our nation and its citizens.”
FCC Commissioner Michael Copps also sought to avoid pinning blame for 800 MHz rebanding problems solely on Sprint Nextel.
“The two items we release today make clear that both sides of the table in the ongoing negotiations-industry and public safety-bear equal measures of responsibility to move forward expeditiously,” Copps stated. “We will not tolerate commercial users remaining in their existing section of the band too long, nor will we grant requests for extension from public safety users that have not acted diligently and expeditiously to move this process along.”