Subject: [NEXTEL-1] 800 MHz Consensus Plan Update

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2003 19:14:16 -0500

800 MHz Consensus Plan Update

APCO continues to play a pivotal role in finding solutions to address the 800 MHz
band-interference problems that have been documented across the nation in recent years.
Last September, APCO joined with other public safety organizations, private radio
organizations and Nextel, to produce a consensus plan to reconfigure the current 800 MHz
channel allotments to reduce interference and provide additional capacity for public
safety. The original version of the plan included a commitment from Nextel to pay up to
$500 million to cover implementation costs incurred by public safety licensees.

On Dec. 24, the consensus group submitted a 150-page supplement to the plan, which
includes a substantial increase in Nextel’s financial commitment (to a total of $850
million, with $700 million earmarked for public safety moves), details regarding the
management and funding of required frequency shifts, new Canadian and Mexican border-area
plans and proposed rules to address lingering interference problems after the consensus
plan is implemented.

The consensus plan is intended to benefit all public safety licensees in the band by
substantially reducing the potential for interference and making additional 800 MHz
channels available for public safety use once the plan is in place. Unfortunately, to make
it all work, many public safety licensees will need to shift their channel assignments
within the 800 MHz band.

The two major groups of affected public safety users are the relatively few licensees in
the 806-809/851-854 MHz General Category channels (who will need to shift up to
809-814/854-859 MHz channels vacated by Nextel) and, more significantly, those in the
821-824/866-869 MHz NPSPAC channels (who will shift down to 806-809/851-854 MHz). The
NPSPAC assignments will be shifted as a block, so there will be no need to re-do the
regional plans.

Public safety licensees now in the 809-816/854-861 MHz interleaved channels will not be
required to move under the plan, though licensees in the upper two megahertz of that
portion of the band will have the option (with cost reimbursement) to move to lower
channels within the band. That would provide them with additional separation from Nextel
operations that will continue above 816/861 MHz.

Combined with moves by Nextel and other licensees, the result will be a rough division of
the band at 816/861 MHz, with the upper portion used by Nextel and other cellular-type
systems and the lower portion used by public safety and private-wireless users with
similar system architectures. The division will reduce substantially the potential for
interference to public safety systems.

The proposed channel swaps can be accomplished without replacing existing radios, except
for a few older models still used by a small number of NPSPAC licensees. Those models
cannot be easily reprogrammed and will probably have to be replaced. In any case, the
consensus plan calls for all the expenses of the channel swap (including replacement
radios, where necessary) to be paid for by Nextel.

The recent supplement also includes Nextel’s detailed estimate of costs, which it believes
will be less than its $850-million total commitment. APCO and others reviewed that
estimate and concluded it was reasonable, but subject to some potentially significant
variables, such as the actual number of older radios still in use that must be replaced.
The plan acknowledges the $850 million could fall short, but it makes clear that no public
safety licensee will be required to expend its own resources to complete the process. The
channel moves will be done on a region-by-region basis, with provisions to ensure no
region will begin the process unless funds are secured to pay for the entire region. Also,
while Nextel (as a publicly traded company) will not agree to an open-ended financial
commitment, it could choose – and would have some incentive to do so – to add funds to
complete the process. Finally, the FCC could elect to address the cost issue in a manner
different from that to which Nextel is willing to agree as part of the consensus plan.

The supplement sets forth the proposed rules and procedures for how the frequency changes
will be accomplished. Licensees will need to complete a questionnaire asking for
information regarding their systems (e.g., number and models of radios in use). Nextel
will prepare a proposal for each licensee regarding the cost reimbursement and process for
performing the channel shift (which, at the licensee’s discretion, could be accomplished
by Nextel’s contractors or by the licensee or its contractors). That will be followed by a
negotiation period to finalize an agreement with each licensee. Mediation (and, where
permitted, arbitration) provisions are included.

The consensus proposal provides for the specific plan for channel shifts (e.g.,
identifying replacement channels for each licensee) to be managed by a special
relocation-coordination committee that would include representation from public safety and
private wireless organizations. The committee would be selected from among the members of
the Land Mobile Communications Council (LMCC), an organization of which APCO is a
prominent member.

A key part of the recent supplement is a proposed set of rules to address interference
that might occur notwithstanding the new channel allotment. All parties agree the revised
channel plan will reduce substantially, but not eliminate completely, the potential for
interference. The proposed technical guidelines make clear the entities causing future
interference will be obliged to correct it. However, there is also an assumption in the
proposed rules that the party receiving the interference has built its system to meet at
least minimal industry standards.

Finally, the plan includes a modified band plan for the Canadian and Mexican border
regions, where 800 MHz channel allocations differ from the rest of the nation.

The commission will be reviewing the consensus plan when you read this and could issue a
decision within the next few months. If approved, implementation of the plan could begin
late this year or in early 2004. Thus, 800 MHz licensees need to follow developments
carefully and begin preparing for the possibility of frequency shifts in the
not-so-distant future.

About the Author
Robert Gurss is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Shook, Hardy & Bacon, L.L.P.
He serves as counsel for APCO and for individual state and local government public safety
agencies. For further information, contact him at (202) 662-4856 or by e-mail at
[email-masked].
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