Subject: [NEXTEL-1] 800 MHz solution muddies as wireless bureau considers rebanding

From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 17:55:40 -0400

800 MHz solution muddies as wireless bureau considers rebanding

by Heather Forsgren Weaver

Sept. 23, 2003

WASHINGTON

A top official of the Federal Communications Commission Tuesday signaled a change
of heart on how the FCC will deal with public-safety interference in the 800 MHz
band. 

“The benefits of the rebanding bottom line happen to be separating these two
different kinds of systems to be very far away. The Spectrum Policy Task Force
said that a good spectrum-management function would be to separate different
services away from each other so you don’t get these problems taking place, these
incidents of interference or these probabilities of interference,” said John
Muleta, chief of the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. 

Muleta’s leaning toward a rebanding solution is in direct contrast to Edmund
Thomas, chief of the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology, who has loudly
signaled the commission would go with a technical solution. 

The consensus proposal, proposed by Nextel Communications Inc., private-wireless
entities and some public-safety advocates would split the 800 MHz band into two
parts—one for cellularized systems and one for non-cellularized systems. The most
controversial aspect of the plan is that Nextel would receive 10 megahertz of
spectrum in the 1.9 GHz band (1910-1915/1990-1995 MHz). To sweeten the pot, Nextel
has offered to pay $850 million to help facilitate the rebanding. 

A best-practices solution advocated by some wireless carriers, the Cellular
Telecommunications & Internet Association, and the United Telecom Council, which
represents utility communications systems, would rely on technical fixes as
individual problems appear. 

Even if the FCC goes with a rebanding solution, that does not necessarily mean it
will choose the consensus plan, said Muleta. “The Nextel proposal is a proposal. I
don’t think it is binding on the commission,” he said. 

It also appears that the timing of a decision on the 800 MHz issue may have
slipped. Previously, all FCC officials had indicated a decision would come this
fall, but at Tuesday’s briefing for reporters Muleta said it might be “early next
year” before a decision is announced. 

http://rcrnews.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=15190

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From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 18:31:26 -0400

So Muleta is going to take that Job offer at Nextel.....Weak......... Very Weak.

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