Subject: [NEXTEL-1] FCC's Powell pulls plug on Nextel spectrum move

From: [email-masked]
Date: Sun, 23 May 2004 13:19:50 -0400

FCC's Powell pulls plug on Nextel spectrum move

W. David Gardner, TechWeb News
May 21, 2004 (4:00 PM)

URL: http://www.commsdesign.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=20900314

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Nextel Communications' hope for relocating much of
its traffic to the 1.9-GHz band are fading, after Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) chairman Michael Powell withdrew his support for
Nextel's plan to acquire rights to the coveted spectrum. The focus now
moves to the 2.1-GHz band, which Nextel calls "inferior replacement
spectrum."
Why is 1.9 GHz so coveted and 2.1 GHz, the higher frequency, so
disdained?

"There's a big increase in cost with 2.1 GHz," said Angus Dougherty,
president and CEO of wireless-infrastructure company Air Cover, in an
interview. "The higher the frequency, the worse the propagation. For
instance, you need many more cell sites [towers] for 2.1." Dougherty
noted that the 2.1-GHz band also requires more energy than does 1.9 GHz.

The matter of Nextel moving out of the 800-MHz band has come to the fore
in recent months because that bandwidth is also home to many
public-safety agencies, such as police and fire departments. Nextel has
backed what's been called the Consensus Plan, which would shuffle Nextel
and public-safety agencies around. The main bone of contention arose
when Nextel asked for a 10-MHz chunk of the 1.9-GHz band--in fact, the
last remaining swath available in that band. Nextel's competitors, led
by Verizon Wireless, complained that Nextel is seeking to cash in on a
giveaway worth billions of dollars, further demanding that the 1.9-GHz
swath be auctioned.

For a wholesale move from the 800-MHz--or any neighboring--band to 2.1
GHz would require "a complete change out of existing systems," entailing
significant costs in equipment and operations, Dougherty said.
Dougherty, formerly was a wireless specialist at Qwest, explained, for
instance, that trees can cause onerous interference in some of the
higher gigahertz bands.
The FCC has been struggling to reach a solution on the issue for months.
The five-member commission has been divided, with commissioners Kevin
Martin and Michael Copps generally favoring Nextel, and commissioners
Jonathan Adelstein and Kathleen Abernathy in opposition. Chairman Powell
has been the swing vote. Powell said he wants the FCC to reach a
decision on the issue before the end of the month. Any decision is
expected to be challenged in court by one side or the other.
With billions of dollars at stake, the issue has attracted comments from
a broad range of Congressmen, politicians, and public-safety and trade
organizations. A group of congressmen and the wireless trade association
Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association have weighed in
against Nextel, while the Association of Public Safely Communications
Officials and scores of police and fire departments are supporting
Nextel.

Dougherty said the mess can largely be attributed to the
Telecommunications Act of 1996, which deregulated the telecommunications
industry without creating an effective structure
Copyright © 2003 CMP Media, LLC

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