Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Nextel Founder Pushes Rebanding Effort

From: [email-masked]
Date: Sat, 30 Aug 2003 12:05:26 -0400

Nextel Founder Pushes Rebanding Effort 

By Sue Marek
August 29, 2003

DENVER

By appealing to the Denver public safety community's firsthand experience with
interference problems in the 800 MHz spectrum, Morgan O'Brien, Nextel
Communications Inc. founder and vice chairman, urged community officials to join
his company and others in their efforts to reorganize the jumbled 800 MHz spectrum
block.

"Get familiar and active on this issue," O'Brien said yesterday at the company's
Interoperability Conference, which focused on advanced communications for the
public sector. "The allocation of spectrum for public safety is inadequate."

Denver public safety agencies are well aware of the problems with interference at
800 MHz. Earlier in the day, a panel of Denver public safety officials told an
audience of more than 130 about the city's problems with interference, which
occurs when signals from cellular phone transmitters overpower the public safety
agencies' private wireless systems. In Denver, Nextel has worked closely with
these agencies to alleviate the problems and the two entities are negotiating to
swap frequencies so that Denver's public safety frequencies would be in a
continuous block away from Nextel's frequencies.  

But O'Brien says that handling the problems in the 800 MHz spectrum on a
case-by-case basis should be done as a last resort and the best solution is to
follow the company's proposed Consensus Plan, which is supported by several public
safety and industry organizations including the International Association of
Chiefs of Police, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the National
Sheriff's Association and the Association of Public Safety Communications
Officials. 

Despite the backing of these organizations, O'Brien says that opponents to the
plan, which include CTIA, the United Telecom Council, AT&T Wireless, Verizon
Wireless and other wireless carriers, have been very effective and that the public
safety community needs to step up and become more vocal in its support of the
rebanding effort. "This won't happen if it comes across as Nextel in the front of
the parade and the rest in the back of the parade," O'Brien says. "This won't
happen unless we have a lot of support because the enemy has been very effective."

http://www.wirelessweek.com/index.asp?layout=document&doc_id=125450&verticalID=34&vertical=Business+and+Finance&industry=

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