Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Police want FCC to clear radio glitch Competitors oppose Nextel's solution

From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 07 Nov 2003 10:27:00 -0500

Police want FCC to clear radio glitch Competitors oppose Nextel's
solution
Source: Advocate; Baton Rouge, La.
Publication date: 2003-11-01
Arrival time: 2003-11-03

WASHINGTON - Three years ago, Baker Police Chief Sid Gautreaux
noticed radio transmissions from officers in the southwest part of town
weren't getting through.

"That was a major concern for officer safety and serving the public,"
Gautreaux said. "They weren't hearing our transmissions, and we weren't
hearing their transmissions."

Gautreaux and his staff eventually found the source of the problem, a
new
Nextel cellular phone tower. The company fixed the problem by
reconfiguring its transmissions but soon learned that the troubles
facing
Baker weren't unique. Police departments across the country using 800
megahertz systems were experiencing similar problems.

Nextel is preparing to go before the Federal Communication Commission
with a plan to reconfigure transmissions where public safety agencies
are
having trouble, at a cost to the company of $850 million.

In return, the company is seeking a slice of the national transmission
spectrum.

"Nobody is at fault on the interference situation but everybody has a
stake," Nextel spokesman Chris Doherty said. "We'll give up spectrum but

we need to be made whole."Opponents to the plan - which include Nextel
competitors such as Verizon, Sprint, AT&T and Cingular Wireless -
contend the federal government would be giving away transmission
spectrum that one company has estimated to worth $4.5 billion.

"This constitutes a giveaway, no question about it," said Brian Fontes,
vice president of federal affairs for Cingular. "It's a cross between
show me
the money, 'The Price Is Right' and 'The Gong Show.' "Nextel disagrees
with the assessment, noting that restrictions would apply to the
spectrum,
lessening its value. Nextel contends the value of the spectrum trade
would
equal the cost of clearing up public safety problems.

Public safety officials just want the matter resolved. The FCC is
expected
to rule early next year.

"We like the Nextel plan because it solves our problem and we don't have

to pay for it," said Alan Caldwell, director of government relations for
the
International Association of Fire Chiefs.

Robert Gurss of the Association of Public Safety Communications
Officials agrees.

"It's pretty severe when you think about it," Gurss said.
http://cnniw.yellowbrix.com/pages/cnnmoney/Story.nsp?story_id=43295128&ID=cnnmoney&scategory=Business+and+Finance&

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