WASHINGTON-The 800 MHz Transition Administrator released details and a new electronic worksheet about its Planning Funding Fast Track Option, announced last month.
Public-safety agencies’ requests must meet specific criteria to take advantage of the new process. The agencies’ requests must equal less than $55 per subscriber, use less than 25 percent of the funding for project management, and use less than 8 percent for legal costs.
More than half of the licensees that need money for planning will be able to use the fast-track option, according to TA estimates. Those seeking to use the fast-track option must begin using the new form available on the TA’s Web site.
“The fast-track option expedites the planning-funding process and provides licensees more runway time to reach a frequency-reconfiguration agreement and prepare for the actual retuning process,” said Brett Haan, the TA’s managing director.
The issue of planning funding has been bubbling under the surface of the 800 MHz rebanding process for months. Public-safety licensees say it is difficult for them to enter negotiations unless they know they will be reimbursed for their troubles.
The Transition Administrator is an outside team selected by the Federal Communications Commission to manage the 800 MHz rebanding. Sprint Nextel Corp. is paying to retune public-safety and private-wireless licensees in the band.
