Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Nextel,Washington, DC, February 13, 1995.

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 04:37:56 -0500

Nextel,Washington, DC, February 13, 1995.

Hon. Cardiss Collins,
Ranking Member, Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, Rayburn House Office
Building, Washington, DC.

Dear Congresswoman Collins: I am writing to you on an urgent matter concerning the
application of H.R. 450, the
`Regulatory Transition Act of 1995', to an ongoing Federal Communications Commission
(`Commission') rulemaking which
would enhance competition in the mobile telecommunications industry. As currently drafted,
the `regulatory moratorium'
legislation could indefinitely postpone Commission adoption of proposed rule changes which
will result in the introduction of
new mobile services, enhanced competition in the mobile marketplace, reduced
administrative burdens on the Commission, and
greater radio spectrum auction fees to the U.S. Treasury. While clearly this it not what
the authors of H.R. 450 intended, we
believe that is what the effect of this legislation will be, unless modified as suggested
below.

Nextel Communications, Inc. (`Nextel'), is today the leading operator of traditional
analog Specialized Mobile Radio (`SMR')
systems. Upon closing of certain pending transactions, Nextel will provide fleet dispatch
communications to approximately
750,000 customers throughout the United States, Nextel has already invested nearly half a
billion dollars to develop, construct
and operate a nationwide digital wide-area SMR system which is fifteen percent more
efficient than existing analog technology.
This unique service offers mobile workforce customers a combination of private network
dispatch, mobile telephone, paging,
text messaging, mobile data (including portable computer and portable fax support) and
enhanced services such as voice mail
and call forwarding, all on a single handset. Nextel is currently operating its new
digital system throughout most of California
and is introducing this service in the greater New York and Chicago areas this quarter. In
California alone, Nextel has created
over 500 new jobs.

The Commission last year initiated a rulemaking procedure concerning wide-area block
licensing for radio spectrum currently
allocated for SMR services. The Commission's rulemaking is required by the Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act of 1993
(`OBRA 93')
which established a new common carrier category of mobile communications
providers--`Commercial Mobile Radio Service'
or `CMRS'. In creating this new category of service, Congress mandated that the Commission
eliminate regulatory disparities
among different types of mobile service providers offering competing services. The
`regulatory parity' provisions were designed
by the Congress to promote fair competition among providers of commercial mobile services,
regardless of their current
regulatory status, and are an essential part of the spectrum auction provisions contained
in OBRA 93.

The regulatory parity provisions in OBRA 93 require that SMR services reclassified as CMRS
be subject to technical
requirements comparable to those that today apply to substantially similar common carrier
services, such as cellular telephone
and Personal Communication Services (`PCS'). The reclassified SMRs have until August 10,
1996 to make whatever changes
are necessary to come into compliance with the new regulations. Delay in adopting
regulatory parity rules will harm reclassified
SMRs who do not yet know what regulations they will be required to comply with only 18
months from now. Such delay will
prolong the existing competitive disadvantage of these carriers vis-a-vis cellular and PCS
services, contrary to the express
intent of OBRA 93. The mobile communications consumer will be the ultimate loser.

Delay in finalizing the Commission's regulations will also harm the government. The
Commission is now burdened with nearly
40,000 backlogged, private radio service applications, many of them for SMRs. It is
proposing the elimination of some of its
current licensing requirements and substituting others which will greatly simplify the
licensing process and allow the Commission
to eliminate much of its current processing burden. The creation of a contiguous spectrum
block wide-area SMR license in the
pending rulemaking will permit the further introduction of spectrum efficient
technologies. In addition, as part of the pending
rulemaking, the Commission is proposing to auction wide-area SMR licenses on a Major
Trading Area basis to operate on four
blocks of contiguous spectrum. A wide-area, contiguous channel block license would promote
regulatory parity and enhanced
competition while bringing the U.S. Treasury much needed revenues.

While the regulatory parity provisions of OBRA 93 are clearly intended to enhance fair
competition by equalizing regulatory
obligations, in reality a new regulatory scheme would be substituted for the existing one.
Thus, it is not entirely clear that the
exclusion which exists under H.R. 450 for rulemakings which the Head of the Agency and the
Administrator of OIRA certifies
is limited to `repealing, narrowing, or streamlining a rule, regulation, or administrative
process' would be applicable to the
Commission's regulatory or parity rulemaking. Nor is it clear that the exclusion
applicable to an `action relieving a restriction or
taking any action necessary to permit new or improved applications of technology' could be
used to exempt the Commission's
rulemaking from the moratorium--although this is the clear intent of the Commission's
proposal.

Nextel firmly believes that any further delay in the Commission's rulemaking would play
into the hands of those entrenched
market participants who fear increased competition. Delay will deny consumers the benefits
of increased competition. Delay
will also reduce revenues to the Treasury and perpetuate an impossible Commission
administrative burden. H.R. 450 should be
amended to exclude from the moratorium rulemakings which are designed to enhance
competition.

Sincerely,

Robert S. Foosaner,
Senior Vice President, Government Affairs.

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From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 08:46:31 EST

> Nextel,Washington, DC, February 13, 1995.

???? Why reprints from eight years ago?

Alan T.