[BARC-List] FW: Nextel Article FYI

[Frank Murphy]

For those of you reading the BPL info being forwarded, here's one closer to
home that seems to have been forgotten.  Frank

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From: Frank Murphy <n1dhw@arrl.ema.org>
Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2004 11:19:10 -0400
To: <RKlenk@USE.SalvationArmy.Org>
Subject: Nextel Article FYI

<http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/03/24/remedy_debated_as_ne=
x
tel_safety_channels_clash/>

Remedy debated as Nextel, safety channels clash

By Peter J. Howe, Globe Staff, 3/24/2004

Making a pre-dawn raid to execute an arrest warrant seven months ago, three
Cambridge police officers found their radios would not work inside the
suspect's building -- leaving them unable to call for backup if the arrest
turned violent.=20

Several weeks later, police breaking up a 2 a.m. brawl at an apartment
building suffered the same lost coverage. So did a fire engine crew calling
for a paramedic and a deputy chief investigating a smoke-filled building.

In each case, the source of trouble identified by Cambridge Fire Chief
Gerald R. Reardon, who oversees the city's public safety network, was
interference from Nextel Communications Inc. cellphone sites. Last month,
when Nextel activated a temporary signal amplifier at a construction
project, Reardon said it caused so much interference that fire officials ha=
d
to shut down the main city radio system for hours to fix it.

Cambridge exemplifies a growing problem across the state and nation. As
Nextel's walkie-talkie cellphones have boomed in popularity, growing to ove=
r
13 million subscribers, so has reported interference with public-safety
radio systems that operate in radio channels closely interlaced with
Nextel's.=20

The Federal Communications Commission, after two years of review, is close
to voting on a $850 million-plus proposal from Nextel to solve the problem
by reshuffling spectrum licenses and reprogramming tens of thousands of
emergency officials' radios. But the plan is coming under mounting criticis=
m
from rivals, particularly Verizon Wireless, who contend Nextel would grab a
$7 billion windfall in new radio-spectrum licenses.

Public safety agencies report some problems of interference with virtually
all carriers, but Nextel accounts for the large majority. Unlike carriers
such as Verizon, Cingular, and Sprint PCS that were awarded or bought
designated wireless telephone licenses, Nextel in the 1980s amassed a
nationwide collection of what are sometimes called "cat and dog spectrum"
licenses from taxi and delivery companies and private walkie-talkie
services. Then it worked with Motorola Inc. to develop them for cellphone
service operating at much higher-powered signals and for far more users.
Many of these licenses fall in a part of the 800-megahertz band, formerly
home to UHF television channels 70 and higher, that is also used by many
police and fire departments.

Plainville Police Chief Ned Merrick, a past president of the Massachusetts
Chiefs of Police Association, said, "Nextel is basically stepping all over
us, because their signals are so much stronger.

"To their credit, Nextel stepped up to the plate and said, `We're going to
try to get away from you,' " said Merrick, who has helped lead negotiations
and is frustrated by the FCC's slow pace resolving the issue. "It's a
typical federal bureaucracy. They've got one speed, and it's not fast." The
FCC may take up the Nextel plan at an April 15 meeting, but has made no
promises.=20

Blair Sutherland, director of telecommunications for the Massachusetts Stat=
e
Police, said, "We continue to find pockets of interference with our network=
.
It will often appear without any warning and almost as quickly disappear
before we can take any action with Nextel." On a staff of 11 radio engineer=
s
serving 2,300 troopers, Sutherland said, one devotes fully half his time to
resolving chronic Nextel interference issues by getting the company to
change frequencies used by certain base stations or to re-aim cellular
antennas to reduce problems.

Sutherland said he is not aware of any life-threatening crises and praised
Nextel for being responsive and cooperative. But Sutherland said the agency
has not yet endorsed the Nextel plan because it would require reprogramming
10,000 radios used by troopers, corrections officers, and emergency
management workers.

"We recognize that something has to be done, but we want to be responsible
decision-makers," Sutherland said.

Nextel is also facing opposition from other carriers, particularly Verizon,
and the industry's trade group, the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet
Association. Two key elements of Nextel's plan are the segregation of Nexte=
l
channels from public safety channels in the 800-megahertz range, and the
allocation to Nextel of new licenses in the 1.9-gigahertz range now used by
Sprint PCS, T-Mobile, and other carriers.

Verizon spokeswoman J. Abra Degbor said her company believes the
interference problems could be solved solely by reallocating Nextel and
public-safety licenses within the 800-megahertz range. Verizon says the new
licenses Nextel proposes to get in the 1.9-gigahertz range could be
auctioned by the federal government for $5.3 billion.

Just swapping licenses in the 800-megahertz range "would benefit public
safety without granting a huge, unlawful windfall to a single private
entity," Degbor said. Verizon contends Nextel's total net gain -- after
subtracting what it pays to reprogram public safety radios -- would exceed
$7 billion, because the new clear swaths of contiguous spectrum are far mor=
e
valuable than Nextel's current hodgepodge of frequencies.

But Nextel spokeswoman Leigh Horner called Verizon's estimates wildly
overblown and said Nextel's plan would have the side benefit of also fixing
many less serious interference problems caused by other cellular carriers
including Verizon, Cingular, and AT&T Wireless by moving public safety
channels further away from those carriers. All told, Horner said, the plan
represents a $2 billion net contribution by Nextel. Verizon's proposal to
only reshuffle licenses, Horner said, is like stuffing a minivan full of
people, locking the doors, and then telling them to reorganize themselves b=
y
shortest to tallest.

"It doesn't work," Horner said. "Their interest is in competitively
disadvantaging Nextel."

Craig McCaw, the cable television and cellular pioneer who owns a 13 percen=
t
stake in Nextel, said during a recent appearance at Boston College: "It's
certainly not a financial windfall for Nextel by any means. This is purely
competitors who are afraid of a company that has innovated and has
embarrassed them." Referring to last year's launch by Sprint PCS and Verizo=
n
Wireless of DirectConnect-style services, McCaw said: "They used to laugh a=
t
push-to-talk. Now they're trying to emulate it, and if they can't do that,
kill it."=20

And telecom politics are probably the furthest thing from the mind of one
prominent supporter of the proposed realignment. Reardon, the Cambridge fir=
e
chief, said that after years of grappling with interference from a dozen
Nextel transmitters within the city's five square miles, he thinks the new
plan probably "makes the most sense. I'm not saying this is going to be a
panacea, but I believe this would solve 95 to 98 percent of our problems."

Peter J. Howe can be reached at howe@globe.com.
=A9 Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.