Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Nextel Officially Rejects 2.1; Opponents Unmoved

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 12 May 2004 14:51:31 -0400

Nextel Officially Rejects 2.1; Opponents Unmoved

BY MARK ROCKWELL
MAY 12, 2004

WASHINGTON -- After a fiery letter from Nextel Communications President
Tim Donahue to the FCC yesterday vowing to "reject" any spectrum
re-banding plan that includes replacement spectrum at 2.1 GHz, opponents
of Nextel's proposal remain unmoved.

In a letter to FCC Chairman Michael Powell late yesterday, Donahue said,
"My responsibility to Nextel's shareholders requires that Nextel obtain
comparable value in any retuning transaction: 2.1 GHz does not meet that
test. Nextel cannot and will not accept that result." Donahue also
accused those pursuing a plan for substitute spectrum at 2.1 GHz of
trying to get a competitive leg-up on his company by offering "inferior
replacement spectrum."

Nextel's plan, which Donahue said meets and exceeds the FCC's goals in
clearing up interference problems between commercial wireless providers
and public safety entities in the 800 MHz band, is a "substantial
undertaking." He added that "Nextel's commitment does not apply,
however, if the commission substitutes 2.1 GHz for the 1.9 GHz block
replacement spectrum."

Verizon Wireless and CTIA, which have backed alternative spectrum swap
plans at 2.1 GHz, were tepid in their reactions to the letter. Verizon
Wireless, a particularly vehement opponent, has said Nextel is trying to
cash in on that spectrum at the expense of public safety. The company,
says Verizon Wireless spokesman Jeffrey Nelson, remains unmoved in its
opinion of the Nextel proposal, even if the company turns its back on
the FCC's re-banding effort. CTIA spokesman Travis Larson noted that any
plan the commission adopts "should put public safety first."

CTIA has proposed a plan that would swap spectrum at 2.1. Larson said
the organization's plan would provide Nextel with 10 MHz of spectrum at
2.1, as the company had originally requested.

Nextel's threat to reject a relocation plan that includes spectrum at
2.1 GHz is seen by many observers as yet another shout in a continuing
screaming match among the interested parties as the rebanding efforts
move along at the FCC.  The letter, says one FCC official, makes the
company's objections to the inclusion of 2.1 GHz spectrum a formal part
of the ongoing discussions, in what had been largely a position voiced
in press reports.

But the characterization that Nextel would completely walk away from an
FCC solution that includes 2.1 GHz was downplayed by Nextel spokeswoman
Leigh Horner. The letter was sent to Powell, she says, to refocus talks
on 1.9 GHz at the FCC. "We needed to be clear in the face of CTIA's and
Verizon's push toward 2.1," she says.

The FCC has the power to force Nextel to move its spectrum even if it
rejects any plan that is issued. Such provisions are written into
spectrum licenses. The company couldn't, however, be ordered to pay the
$850 million it has proposed to relocate public safety entities, says an
FCC official. Nextel also would have to comply with any decision the
commission makes until it gets a "stay" from the commission, even if it
appeals the ruling.

A decision on the 800 MHz rebanding is imminent in the coming weeks as
the commission works to finalize using either 1.9 GHz or 2.1. Some
sources say the FCC could present its plan at the commission's June
meeting, while others say it might be voted in private "on circulation"
among the commissioners in the next few weeks.

http://www.wirelessweek.com/index.asp?layout=newsat2direct&starting=1&pubdate=05/12/04

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