OPPOSING CARRIERS LAUNCH FINAL FIGHT AGAINST NEXTEL ORDER
CTIA and other wireless carriers launched a massive, last minute offensive Thurs. aimed at turning around the FCC’s expected decision to give Nextel 10 MHz of spectrum at 1.9 GHz. CTIA said in a filing that NextWave auction reserve prices confirm that giving Nextel 1.9 GHz as part of a rebanding scheme would constitute a “massive giveaway.” Meanwhile, an alternate public safety group held a press conference to denounce the plan.
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CTIA Pres. Steve Largent told us that, while “the wind is in our face,” CTIA hasn’t given up on its alternative plan giving Nextel spectrum at 2.1 GHz. Largent said a lawsuit against the FCC by other wireless carriers was a virtual certainty if FCC sides with Nextel, which could tie the case up for years. A former NFL wide receiver unaccustomed to playing defense, Largent also said he would welcome a meeting with Chmn. Powell prior to the release of an order, which is expected next week. He said information CTIA has received confirms media reports that CTIA has lost on the Nextel spectrum issue (CD June 24 p1).
The filing “ties several issues together -- the NextWave auction and the 800 MHz issues,” Largent said. “One of the biggest question marks that has hung over this proceeding is how much is 1.9 GHz really worth. With the NextWave auction of spectrum at 1.9 GHz we get a peak behind the curtain at true value.” The NextWave licenses in just N.Y. have been valued at $930 million, Largent said: “If you extrapolate that for a nationwide basis, which is what Nextel is asking, that would equate to $10.7 billion. This sorts of lifts the skirt of Nextel and the FCC… to say the value of 1.9 GHz is substantially higher than what is being talked about at this time.”
NextWave’s auction is scheduled to start July 6 and be finished in as quickly as one day. Sources said it’s unclear why the FCC would want to release the Nextel order prior to that auction.
CTIA said in a filing at the FCC Wed. night that the high reserve prices, establishing a floor for bids, in NextWave’s private sale of its spectrum poke holes in any claims Nextel might make about the relative value of the 1.9 MHz band. “The spectrum blocks being auctioned are within the 1.9 GHz PCS block immediately adjacent to the spectrum that Nextel seeks, and thus provide a ‘marketplace’ assessment of the value of the 1.9 GHz spectrum,” CTIA said. “The NextWave auction reserve prices demonstrate that the remaining 1.9 GHz spectrum is in high demand and is expected to raise substantial funds through the auction process. It is ironic that NextWave is going to hold an auction to yield the highest value for 1.9 GHz spectrum, while at the same time the FCC is considering giving away the spectrum to one company and prohibiting anyone else from seeking it.”
The Assn. of Public Safety Communications Officials and other public safety groups disputed the arguments in the paper. “The First Response Coalition appears to base its objections to the consensus plan on the misconception that state and local government agencies will be required to ‘put up the front-end money to upgrade their communication systems and then apply after the fact for reimbursement.'” The groups noted that, to the contrary, the plan permits governments to pay costs directly without the need for upfront funds. “Unfortunately, opponents of the consensus plan continue to spread misinformation… creating unwarranted fears among some in the public safety community,” the groups said.
Also Thurs. the “First Response Coalition,” which includes officials involved in responding to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on N.Y., issued a white paper attacking the Nextel plan. “The interoperable communications systems could have saved lives on September 11th. As emergency personnel entered the World Trade Center towers, communications between police, fire, and rescue units were not coordinated,” the report said. “As urgent and complicated as this problem is, the situation is exacerbated by the actions of Nextel Communications. Guised as an effort to help public safety departments eliminate interference problems in their communications systems, Nextel is waging a multi-million dollar campaign which is diverting attention and possible resources away from the real issue of communications interoperability.”
William Fox, commissioner of the Metropolitan Fire Assn., told reporters: “It is 3 years and we still have problems with the radios… When is the public and the FCC and everybody going to wake up?”