GROUPS ENDORSE REVISED NEXTEL REBANDING PLAN
The coalition of major law enforcement groups supporting the original “consensus” 800 MHz rebanding plan Mon. sent a letter to the FCC supporting the revised version filed by Nextel last week. The group also took a shot at Verizon Wireless, which criticized the plan after it was floated June 7.
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“We support Nextel’s proposed enhancement to the consensus plan, and urge that the Commission incorporate it into its pending order as quickly as possible,” said the letter to FCC Chmn. Powell by 6 law enforcement associations. The groups signing the letter were the Assn. of Public-Safety Communications Officials, the International Assn. of Chiefs of Police, the National Sheriff’s Assn., the International Assn. of Fire Chiefs, the Major Cities Chiefs Assn., and the Major County Sheriff’s Assn.
The letter also criticized comments by a Verizon official that “Nextel’s new scheme doesn’t provide an additional cent for public safety. Public safety needs money, not lousy spectrum,” as quoted in The Washington Post. “Mr. Chmn. that’s malarkey,” the law enforcement groups said: “Verizon does not know public safety’s needs nor does it speak for public safety.”
Robert Gurss, APCO gen. counsel, expressed support for the plan when it was introduced (CD June 8 p1). Sources said, however, a formal sign off was important to the FCC. “We hadn’t gone on the record in response to Nextel’s recent modification,” Gurss said Mon. “Our initial reaction was to say this was a good thing. Then the Verizon general counsel was quoted in the paper and we said we should address that.”
“Without this letter FCC would have been left with a Nextel plan,” one source said. “This makes clear what we're looking at is a new version of a consensus plan. That’s important to the Commission as it works out a final 800 MHz plan.”
The letter must be viewed against a backdrop of an escalating war of words between Nextel and other wireless carrier opposed to the rebanding plan. Verizon said in a filing at the FCC last week based on estimates by Bear Stearns the new plan would be $762 million cheaper for Nextel than its original proposal. “Nextel has not offered one additional cent for public safety,” Verizon told the FCC: “Its offer for public safety remains woefully inadequate at $700 million, compared to the $3 billion provided in the CTIA plan. Nor has Nextel done anything to address the serious flaws in the consensus plan’s funding mechanism, under which public safety will be forced to spend taxpayer money first, then seek reimbursement from Nextel later.”
Nextel had proposed giving public safety 2.5 MHz. The revised plan would essentially double that to 4.5 MHz. The offer is worth $863 million more than the previous proposal, or $5.155 billion, Nextel said. On June 9, Nextel laid out details on its revised proposal. “With this enhancement to the consensus plan, public safety will have 14.5 MHz of spectrum at 800 MHz and Nextel will have 14 MHz,” Nextel said: “At the end of the day, public safety gets more spectrum for critical communication needs and private wireless has new opportunities for communication development.”
“It’s significant that this letter doesn’t address CTIA’s very real concerns that Nextel’s proposal is a loser,” a spokesman for Verizon Wireless said in response. “Nextel refuses to address the likelihood that interference would be caused to existing parties that would have to vacate this 2 MHz. The other question is how do APCO’s and Nextel’s Washington lobbyists plan to pay for an influx of spectrum users that had never even planned to move.”