[TrunkCom] Re: [NEXTEL1](WAS) Congress Wants Answers on the FCC's NPRM
(NOW)Congress is making noise over the FCC's proposal to'relocate'
telephone carriers sharing the 800 MHz spectrum
iDEN-i100
[email protected]
Thu, 11 Jul 2002 15:19:01 -0400
Here is the media's take on the NPRM......
====================================================================================
Congress is making noise over the FCC's proposal to'relocate' telephone
carriers sharing the 800 MHz spectrum, and is looking for a quick fix.
<SNIP>
Public safety agencies (like firefighter and
police agencies) and cell phone carriers
(mainly Nextel Communications , one of the
largest digital wireless phone carriers in the
U.S.), share parts of the band -- carriers, with
their high-power transmitters and amplifiers,
usually win, interfering with emergency
communications.
Although the FCC already has a notice of
proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to move licensed
operators out of the contested spectrum next
year, Congress is looking for a solution now.
The letter, sent by Reps. Billy Tauzin (R-LA),
Fred Upton (R-MI) and Vito Fossella (R-NY) of
the House subcommittee on
telecommunications and the Internet on
Monday, asks for a "detailed accounting" of
800 MHz band operators and the frequency allotments each possess.
"With the increase in commercial mobile radio service (CMRS) and
specialized mobile radio (SMR)
providers and the implementation of new technologies and services,
interference has become increasingly
common in the 800 MHz band. Many of our colleagues in Congress believe
that the interference presents a
very serious problem that needs to be addressed in a timely manner."
The problem, all sides agree, is that the two are interfering with each
other, causing emergencies crews to
lose radio contact at critical times and giving customers dropped
signals. The spectrum in question is 70
channels in the 810-816 MHz and 854-861 MHz bands.
The answer, however, isn't as easy, and the FCC's March, 2002, NPRM is
looking for feedback on a
proposal to move phone carriers to a different area of spectrum,
eliminating much of the interference
problem.
Nextel, which has been working in conjunction with wireless phone maker
Motorola , the Cellular Telephone
and Internet Association (CTIA) and the Public Safety Wireless Network
(PSWN), released a white paper in
November, 2000, which is the basis of the NPRM.
Kathleen Abernathy, FCC commissioner, said the Nextel proposal is a good
starting point to get discussion
moving on the interference issue.
"For almost two years, the Commission staff has been diligently working
with the public safety and
commercial wireless communities to come up with solutions to the 800 MHz
interference problem," she
said in a statement. "Nextel's proposal is a welcome beginning of a
dialog on how best to move us from
where we are -- to where we need to be."
Basically, it shuffles Nextel out of the contested frequencies and puts
them elsewhere in the 700 and 800
MHz bands and gives public safety agencies and other commercial
operators more room in the same.
Public safety organization would get sole use of the 764-776 MHz,
794-816 MHz and 851-861 MHz bands
and commercial operators would get the 764-776 MHz, 776-794 MHz and
861-869 MHz bands.
One of the questions wireless phone operators have, though, is who's
going to foot the bill.
Carriers in the FCC-licensed 800 MHz band pay yearly licensing fees to
continue operating in the spectrum,
dependent on the number of customers and how they specifically use the
frequency. Not only that, their
equipment is geared to operate in that particular frequency; moving it
to another frequency -- such as the
suggested 900 MHz band -- would require a systems-wide overhaul to
function in the new "environment."
Normally, the new agency displacing the incumbent carriers would foot
the bill for the migration costs, but in
this case its taxpayer dollars involved.
Nextel has a solution for that, too: a "reward" that benefits the
carrier specifically and gives it room in an
area of frequency the FCC has designated for emerging technologies. Some
of the frequencies it lost in the
proposed deal would be gained in the reallocation of 2.1 GHz spectrum,
prime "real estate" for 3G digital
wireless communications.
iDEN-i100 wrote:
> Congress Wants Answers on the FCC's NPRM
>
> All:
>
> Looks like all those Letters, E-mails, Phone Calls and Late Night
> Dinners finally got someone's attention on the Hill. I have been
> hearing some rumblings for sometime from various sources but this is
> the first action at the Congressional level. Looks like Powell is in
> the hot seat. Congress wants some answers from Federal Communications
> Commission Commission Chairman Michael Powell over the agency's
> proposed plan to displace licensed 800 MHz carriers, and is giving him
> until July 26 to provide an answer. Billy is like a "Pit Bull" on
> these issues he bites and won't let go until he sees blood.
>
> I received a copy of a letter sent by Reps. Billy Tauzin (R-LA), Fred
> Upton (R-MI) and Vito Fossella (R-NY) of
> the House subcommittee on telecommunications and the Internet on
> Monday, the letter asks for a
>
> "detailed accounting" of 800 MHz band operators and the frequency
> allotments each possess.
>
> This is going to draw attention to Nextel since they are one of the
> largest Pvt. spectrum holder in the 800 mhz band. Billy T. will have a
> field day with Nextel dissecting its spectrum holdings once he finds
> out they are also the biggest interferer.
>
> The only down side is ............Now that Billy is involved the NPRM
> will get bogged down like the Nextwave deal. Instead of the NPRM
> moving ahead it is sure to get held up in Congressional inquiries,
> Debates and other Capital Hill nonsense.
>
> This story should hit the mainstream media tomorrow.
>
> Marcel
>
> ======
> ==================================================================================
>
>
>
> July 8, 2002
>
> The Honorable Michael K. Powell
> Chairman
> Federal Communications Commission
> 445 12th St., S.W.
> Washington, D.C. 20554
>
> Re: WT Docket No. 02-55
>
> Dear Chairman Powell:
>
> As you are well aware, the Federal Communications Commission (the
> Commission) has an
> important proceeding before it with respect to public safety radio
> interference in the 800 MHz
> band.
>
> With the increase in commercial mobile radio service (CMRS) and
> specialized mobile radio
> (SMR) providers and the implementation of new technologies and
> services, interference has
> become increasingly common in the 800 MHz band. Many of our colleagues
> in Congress
> believe that the interference presents a very serious problem that
> needs to be addressed in a
> timely manner.
>
> To assist the House Committee on Energy and Commerce's efforts in
> considering solutions to
> the interference experienced by public safety radio operations in the
> 800 MHz band, we are
> writing to request that the Commission provide the Committee with a
> detailed accounting of the
> current licensees in the 800 MHz band and the spectrum allotments
> possessed by the
> licensees in the band.
>
> We thank you, in advance, for your timely response to our request and
> look forward to working
> with you on this important issue. Please respond to our request by
> July 26, 2002.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> W.J. "Billy" Tauzin
> Chairman
>
> Fred Upton
>
> Chairman, Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet
>
> Vito J. Fossella
>
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