Verizon and Nextel officials pitched different ways Mon. to fix p...

FCC, which would entail rebanding at 700, 800 and 900 MHz; Nextel would give up some spectrum in exchange for bands elsewhere, including 10 MHz at 1.9 GHz. Verizon Wireless and others, including CTIA, have criticized the consensus plan as providing a possible spectrum windfall to Nextel. They prefer establishing best practices to fix interference. At a hearing on spectrum for public safety Mon., Verizon Dir.-Spectrum/Wireless Policy Donald Brittingham told the committee the “most offensive part of Nextel’s proposal” was the spectrum swap that would result in a gain to Nextel of $6.5 billion. (Nextel has disputed the figure). “This includes new PCS spectrum in the 1.9 GHz band that could be auctioned to raise more than $5 billion for the U.S. Treasury -- revenues that could be used to provide first responders with state-of-the-art communications systems or to increase funding for critical homeland security needs,” Brittingham said in prepared testimony. “At a time when New York and other great cities around this country are in desperate need of homeland security funding, it is appalling that Nextel would make such a self-serving proposal or that the FCC would even consider its adoption.” Nextel Vp-Govt. Affairs Lawrence Krevor, in written testimony, said the consensus plan created separate spectrum blocks for public safety operators and the technology used by commercial carriers, eliminating the problem of interference caused by bad “spectrum neighbors.” He said: “In other words, the really great news about the consensus plan spectrum realignment is that it eliminates the interference to public safety radios before it occurs, not after it prevents a fire fighter from calling for help in an emergency,” Krevor said.