WASHINGTON-The Compromise Plan offered by the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association is the best option to solve the public-safety interference problem in the 800 MHz band, CTIA asserted in a letter filed late Thursday.
“The Federal Communications Commission’s responsibility, of course, is to do what is best for public safety, not what is best for Nextel Communications Inc. or any other private party. To any observer, particularly those who have been involved in this proceeding for years, CTIA’s Compromise Plan clearly is better for public safety,” wrote Diane Cornell, CTIA vice president of regulatory policy. “Nextel claims that its plan is ‘fair to all stakeholders, including the American taxpayer.’ But its plan is not ‘fair’ to public safety when compared to the CTIA Compromise Plan. It asks for a spectrum grant before it completes any efforts to relocate public safety, the opposite of what is proposed in the CTIA Compromise Plan.”
CTIA also takes umbrage at a claim made earlier this week by Nextel President Timothy Donahue that cellular carriers are causing at least 25 percent of the interference in the 800 MHz band.
“There is nothing in the record-apart from a completely unsubstantiated statement from Nextel-that supports Nextel’s statement that other carriers are responsible for anything close to 25 percent of the problem. In reality, the record indicates just the opposite: that Nextel is responsible for the vast majority of the problem, and other carriers may be responsible for at most a very small percentage of the interference incidents,” said Cornell.
Nextel has argued that CTIA cannot call its plan a compromise because Nextel-one of its members-was not involved in formulating the plan. But at a press conference Thursday, CTIA President Steve Largent said that if Nextel can call its plan the Consensus Plan, the CTIA can call its plan the Compromise Plan because it represents a compromise between the companies opposing Nextel.
Late last month, CTIA said Nextel should pay $3 billion to cover the rebanding costs of the 800 MHz band, but instead of getting spectrum in the 1.9 GHz band, it should get spectrum in the 2.1 GHz band. Nextel would get the 2.1 GHz spectrum as the retuning in the 800 MHz band is completed. The money would also be deposited in a third-party trust fund with protections against bankruptcy.
The Consensus Plan would shuffle the 800 MHz band to eliminate the current situation where public safety, private wireless, Nextel, other SMRs and cellular carriers are intermingled. In exchange for giving up spectrum in the 700 MHz, 800 MHz and 900 MHz bands and for paying to retune public safety and private wireless, Nextel has asked for 10 megahertz in the 1.9 GHz band. It is supported by Nextel; the Industrial Telecommunications Association, which represents private-wireless interests; and some public-safety advocacy groups. Other public-safety advocacy groups have expressed concern about the Consensus Plan.
