WASHINGTON-The FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau refused Sprint Nextel Corp.’s request to delay the 800 MHz rebanding.
“While we are sensitive to the challenges involved in the 800 MHz rebanding process, we are also mindful that a paramount goal of the Federal Communications Commission in this proceeding is to eliminate harmful interference to public-safety systems as quickly as possible. We therefore believe the public interest would not be served by a blanket adjustment of the current 36-month rebanding schedule, and will not grant your request that we establish a new start date in lieu of the previously designated June 27, 2005, start date,” said Catherine Seidel, acting chief of the wireless bureau.
Sprint Nextel had requested a new timeline because it said the rules kept changing. The new start date under Sprint Nextel’s request would have been Feb. 27 with the rebanding completed by Feb. 27, 2009. As it stands today, the rebanding is scheduled to be completed by June 27, 2008.
Meanwhile, the 800 MHz Transition Administrator-the outside team designated by the FCC to manage the rebanding-is taking a more proactive role in the negotiations between Sprint Nextel and public-safety licensees for planning funding. Public-safety licensees say it is very difficult for them to enter into negotiations unless they know they will be paid for them. This issue has been bubbling under the surface as different licensees enter different stages of the negotiations. When the first wave of licensees entered into the mandated alternative dispute resolution process late last year, funding was one of the first issues to be dealt with. The second wave is already well into the negotiation process.
“We were identifying that this was a critical issue from a public-safety perspective, the FCC’s perspective and from Sprint Nextel’s perspective,” Brett Haan, deputy program manager for the 800 MHz Transition Administrator, told RCR Wireless News.
The TA announced the change Wednesday afternoon at the winter conference of the Association of Public-safety Communications Officials.
The new process is: 1) Licensees will submit a request for planning funding to the TA.; 2) The TA will forward the request to Sprint Nextel; 3) A negotiation schedule will be established within five days; 4) If an agreement is not reached within 60 calendar days from when the TA forwards the request to Sprint Nextel, the parties will enter mediation.
Licensees that previously submitted requests to Sprint Nextel will not follow this process and licensees that are already in the mandatory negotiation period will automatically go into mediation.
Sprint Nextel is paying to retune public safety and private-wireless licensees in the 800 MHz band as part of an effort to stop interference between Sprint Nextel’s 800 MHz frequencies and other channels. As part of the deal, Sprint Nextel is giving up 700 MHz and some 800 MHz channels in return for 10 megahertz of spectrum at 1.9 GHz.
