NEXTEL OFFERS PUBLIC SAFETY MORE SPECTRUM
Nextel, still fighting to make certain FCC’s 800 MHz rebanding plan includes giving it spectrum at 1.9 GHz, has offered a new concession, giving up additional spectrum at 800 MHz to be used by public safety. The proposal appears designed in part to give FCC Chmn. Powell additional cover if he sides with Nextel against other wireless carriers, which have made the case Nextel instead should get 2.1 GHz spectrum. Nextel had proposed giving public safety 2.5 MHz and the new plan would essentially double that to 4.5 MHz. Based on Nextel’s numbers, the offer is worth $863 million more than the previous proposal, or $5.155 billion, a spokesman said.
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Powell may give the filing weight because it entails some “pain” for Nextel, with the carrier agreeing to give up 2 of its 16 MHz in the 800 MHz band, one source said. “They were kind of looking for something to sweeten the pot,” the source said. “They're giving up 2 more MHz of spectrum and spectrum that’s valuable. That’s going to weigh. How much is hard to say.”
Nextel said it disclosed the offer last week in a meeting with Bryan Tramont, FCC chief of staff who’s shepherding the 800 MHz proposal for Powell. Nextel said the 2 MHz would provide 40 more public safety channels. A public safety official said some of the channels could be traded with industrial and business users to maximize the value. “This additional spectrum provides capacity for thousands of additional mobile units in communities where public safety systems face serious capacity constraints,” Nextel said. “It also provides the essential spectrum access necessary to create the interoperable communications networks essential for public safety officials to meet their expanded Homeland Security responsibilities.”
Other carriers were preparing a response, explaining why they viewed the latest offer as inferior to CTIA’s alternative proposal.
“This continues to demonstrate that their main objective is to better their commercial competitiveness by grabbing 1.9 GHz spectrum,” a spokesman for Verizon Wireless said. “I think this should give public safety pause. If the last offer wasn’t their best offer, what makes them think they're getting it now. We continue to believe the CTIA plan is the best. This latest effort doesn’t give public safety what they really need, which is money.”
CTIA also blasted the proposal. “Our focus remains the same -- crafting a proposal that first solves Public Safety interference, while still being equitable and legally sustainable,” the group said. “This latest evolution of the consensus plan helps address public safety’s stated desire for more spectrum, but it does not address other important issues -- such as providing public safety with adequate funding.”
But Robert Gurss, gen. counsel to the Assn. of Public Safety Communications Officials, told us he was pleased with the enhanced offer from Nextel. In late May, public safety groups spoke with Powell to share their concerns that Nextel would abandon the consensus plan if the company doesn’t get spectrum at 1.9 GHz. “It’s a significant amount of channels over what they have been planning for public safety,” Gurss said. “It would also put some additional distance between their system and the bulk of public safety. That additional space between them and the other 800 MHz users provides additional protection and any additional channels would be helpful.”