Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Great post

From: Marcelrf <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2004 17:04:36 -0500

-------- Original Message --------
   From: [email-masked]
Subject: Great post
     To: [email-masked]

 Post this to your homeland security groups: Public safety interference:
an amateur radio operator's perspective  It is clear that APCO has been
bought off by Nextel with their promises to end interference by
rebanding. While this may sound good on paper and to politicians, in the
real world of RF and spectrum management it falls short of reality. To
date, there is NO ABSOLUTE PROOF that rebanding will solve Nextel's
ongoing harmful interference to 800MHz public safety radio users. What
guarantees are in place that if said rebanding plan is implemented and
it fails or doesn't work as promised, will the problem then be solved?
and at what cost? who is gonna pay for it? We have all seen Nextel's
response about the entire issue from the beginning: there was no
interference- to then the "it may be possible, but it isn't just us" to
the "it is us and we are going to fix it but we should be the only one
to pay"...come on. Grow up. Nextel and Nextel alone is responsible for
operating an iDEN ESMR as a cellular network on a band that is not
designed for cellular type networks and is stepping all over incumbents,
most of who happen to be public safety systems of which the lives of
first responders rely on every day. Instead of adhering to rules already
in place regarding harmful interference to public safety licencees,
Nextel wishes to engage in moving everyone else around so they dodge
responsibility for interference they cause. Is it the FCC's fault that
Nextel decided to play cellular and PCS carrier on an ESMR band? Maybe
so to the extent that they have failed to enforce rules in place against
part 90 licencees who cause harmful interference to others.If it were
anyone else making life miserable on 800MHz, there would have been cease
and desist orders issued long ago, fines issued, and equipment ceased.
But when you are a big corporate entity like Nextel, money can buy you
lobbyists, APCO officials, even the FCC itself (isn't former FCC
Chairman Reed Hundt now employed by Nextel...no wonder they got such
good deals from the FCC while he was chairman) If I, as an amatuer radio
operator, were coming through my local PD or FD's VHF repeater while
operating my station, I would be contacted by FCC Special Counsel Riley
Hollingsworth, issued a cease and desist, have my station inspected, and
even having my license modified to prohibit operation on specified
frequencies within the amateur service to assure that I "stay the hell
out of the cops hair"...if I had brass balls to keep operating like
Nextel has, insisting that I was "within my bandwidth and duly
licensed"...well, I would probabbly be sitting inside Atlanta Federal
Penn on a variety of Federal charges and playing radio would be the last
thing on my mind to say the least... So why are the rules different for
Nextel? They should either adjust their system so that it doesn't
interfere with any public safety system, or get the hell off 800MHz. Oh,
that's gonna cost them? Too bad, should/woulda/coulda considered that
when deciding to impersonate a cell phone company as an ESMR and bid on
those PCS licenses for free. And now they want PCS for free too...it is
really a sign of how warped things are in this country. Erik
Bagby,WC4RAV Radio Amateur Volunteershttp://www.wc4rav.org 73 de KB4TPP