Subject: [NEXTEL-1] FCC STILL HOPING TO COMPLETE 800 MHz BANDING PROCEEDING IN APRIL

From: Marcelrf <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2004 07:35:53 -0500

FCC STILL HOPING TO COMPLETE 800 MHz BANDING PROCEEDING IN APRIL
3/23/2004

ATLANTA - The FCC is still hoping to adopt an order in its 800
megahertz band proceeding at its April 15 meeting, although that
timeline could get pushed back, FCC Chief of Staff Bryan Tramont
said today.  "If it takes longer, it takes longer," Mr. Tramont said
during a regulatory panel discussion at the Cellular Telecommuni-
cations & Internet Association's show here.

Mr. Tramont said that it's unclear whether the order the Commission
finally adopts will be similar to the draft that is now being
considered.
 "It's too soon to tell," he said.  "Everyone is working off the draft
now."  A source said there hadn't been significant changes to the draft
since it began circulating among Commissioners' offices March 9.

The draft calls for a realignment of the 800 MHz band and for Nextel
Communications, Inc., to receive the 1.9 gigahertz band spectrum that
it seeks, according to sources.  Nextel would be responsible for
picking
up all of the relocation costs of public safety and private wireless
licensees and would have to pay the difference between those costs and
the value of the 1.9 GHz band spectrum, the sources said.  But the
draft does not suggest a specific value for the 1.9 GHz band channels.
As part of the "consensus" plan, Nextel has pledged to pay up to $850
million to cover the relocation costs of public safety and private
wireless licensees.

Robert S. Foosaner, Nextel's senior vice president and chief regulatory
officer, told TRDaily yesterday that it's impossible to say whether
Nextel would agree to pay more than it has pledged without knowing
exactly how much more.  "Without the number, it's all hypothetical,"
he said.

But he criticized estimates submitted by Verizon Wireless regarding
the value of the 1.9 GHz band frequencies vs. what Nextel has offered
to give up.

An economic analysis commissioned by Nextel and released last
Thursday harshly criticizes a report funded by Verizon Wireless that
estimated Nextel's spectrum holdings would increase by $7.2 billion
under the consensus plan.  The analysis was prepared by Gregory L.
Rosston, deputy director of the Stanford University Institute for
Economic Policy Research  and a former FCC economist.

It blasts a report submitted by Verizon Wireless last October that was
prepared by Kane Reece Associates, Inc.  The report concluded that
Nextel's windfall under the consensus plan would total $6.5 billion
after the carrier paid its expenses.  That report concluded that Nextel
would benefit both from the greater value of the 1.9 GHz band
spectrum it seeks as well as the contiguous 800 MHz band spectrum it
would have once the band is realigned.

Mr. Rosston said the Kane Reece analysis "relies on a technological
analysis ... while ignoring economic considerations that affect the
value of the spectrum to a given company, such as costs of different
technologies and costs of transitioning to a different technology."

"Even if one were to accept this error, the other portion of the Kane
Reece methodology finds that Nextel's 800 MHz spectrum is worth
substantially more than 1.9 GHz spectrum when using data at the firm
level, rather than using wireless industry averages, as Kane Reece
does," Mr. Rosston added.  "On a firm level basis, the Kane Reece
study shows wildly divergent values for what it claims are similar
assets - spectrum licenses.  These divergent values indicate a serious
error in the methodology.  While the Kane Reece analysis contains
other problems, these two factors alone show that its conclusions are
not based on sound economics and provide no basis to determine the
relative value of different spectrum positions or to validate any
'windfall' claims."

Mr. Rosston echoed Nextel's contention that contiguous spectrum
wouldn't increase the value of its spectrum holdings because its iDEN
(integrated digital enhanced network) system is built for operating in
non-contiguous spectrum.  Nextel says that its spectral and financial
obligations under the consensus plan are worth more than $2 billion
more than the 1.9 GHz band spectrum it would receive; it says its
contribution would be $5.4 billion, while the 1.9 GHz band spectrum
is worth $3.5 billion, although it says it would have to pay $165
million to relocate incumbents there.- Paul Kirby, [email-masked]

http://www.tr.com/online/trd/2004/td032204/index.htm

--
    "NEXTEL-1 IT'S NOT JUST NEXTEL"
  Note The New address
Subscribe to Nextel-1: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/NEXTEL-1

  "NEXTEL2 FOR iDEN SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS"
Subscribe to Nextel2: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/NEXTEL2

  "WIRELESS FORUM HOMELAND SECURITY GROUP"
     The Complete Resource for Wireless Homeland Security.
Subscribe to WFHSG:  http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/WFHSG

-- 
    "NEXTEL-1 IT'S NOT JUST NEXTEL"
  Note The New address 
Subscribe to Nextel-1: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/NEXTEL-1

  "NEXTEL2 FOR iDEN SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS"
Subscribe to Nextel2: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/NEXTEL2

  "WIRELESS FORUM HOMELAND SECURITY GROUP"
     The Complete Resource for Wireless Homeland Security.
Subscribe to WFHSG:  http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/WFHSG

Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEXTEL-1/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
     [email-masked]

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
     http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/