Subject: [NEXTEL-1] MRT's Wavelengths: Technology's promise often collides with fiscal reality

From: Marcelrf <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2004 16:24:49 -0500

Wavelengths
February 27, 2004 
Volume 2, Number 8 

Technology's promise
often collides with fiscal reality

Glenn Bischoff
February 27, 2004 

I heard from the International Association of Chiefs of
Police and the International Association of Fire Chiefs
this week. More on that later. First, I want to fulfill a
promise made in this space last week. The topic is the
800 MHz band and the interference problems that are
wreaking havoc with public-safety communications. 

One solution, presented by Nextel--which is blamed by most for the
dilemma--would move the carrier from its interleaved encumbered spectrum
in the band to contiguous unencumbered spectrum. Public-safety licensees
also would be moved to contiguous spectrum, and Nextel would receive
additional spectrum in the 1.9 GHz band. 

Nextel puts the price tag for the rebanding--which it has offered to
pay--at $800 million, while opponents claim it will be closer to $2
billion and wonder who will cover the shortfall. One thing both sides
seem to agree upon is that rebanding will take several years to execute,
though the largest population centers are expected to be given priority
and rebanded within the first year. 

Of course, that assumes no legal challenge emerges, which would be a bad
assumption. Before moving over to MRT, I covered policy and law for
Telephony and Wireless Review magazines. I can tell you without any fear
that someone--regardless of whether the Federal Communications
Commission opts for the Consensus Plan or the rival Balanced Approach
Plan--will challenge this decision in the courts, assuming Netxel's 1.9
GHz windfall remains in the package. 

Sources have told me that a court challenge, from strictly a legal
perspective, wouldn't stop the rebanding work, barring an injunction of
some sort. But in reality it would. That's because licensees aren't
going to invest millions of dollars in this project if they think a
court could eventually overturn the FCC, which happens on a fairly
regular basis. At best, licensees will proceed cautiously, if at all. In
any event, the 2-3 year window for executing the rebanding from stem to
stern easily could stretch to 5-6 years. 

Last week I wrote that in the time it takes to reband, engineers might
be able to find a technical solution to this mess. Though I mentioned
cognitive radios--which are too bulky and expensive in their current
form to be of any use to public safety, and which may or may not develop
to the point where they would be a viable future option--I was really
thinking about mesh networks. 

Such networks are being developed as a way to provide municipalities
with high-speed data services. The architecture is fairly simple. A
series of nodes are attached to streetlights and other fixed locations
throughout the city. The mesh architecture routes the data traffic
through the nodes. If a node or nodes fail, traffic is simply rerouted
through the other nodes. In addition, every radio and handset contains a
router, which enables the network to be extended or quickly patched. For
instance, should a tornado knock down a few streetlights, any police car
dispatched to the affected area could serve as a surrogate node. 

The system is so simple to install that the city of Garland, Texas, pays
its streetlight maintenance contractors to do the job, and the project
will be completed in about four months. The network requires no towers,
it operates on the 2.4 GHz ISM band and installation is relatively
inexpensive--Garland is paying about $100 per node. (The network itself
is costing $3.9 million.) 

So what does this mean to public safety--it's a data network, right?
Well, the network, produced by Richardson, Texas-based NexGen City using
technology developed by Maitland, Fla.-based MeshNetworks, also offers a
voice-over-IP component. Garland telecommunications manager Darrell
McClanahan told MRT senior writer Donny Jackson he is confident VoIP
technology has evolved to the point where the latency problems that once
plagued it have been solved. 

McClanahan said the city would move public works and code enforcement
employees to the new voice network once the installation is complete. He
also said the city is considering moving public-safety voice
communications to the network, but acknowledged it wouldn't happen until
he's sure "all the bugs have been worked out," and that the police and
fire departments want to move. (For the complete story on the Garland
deployment, see "Texas city decides to mesh around," in the February
2004 MRT.) 

I think it's safe to say--given the speed at which the technology is
developing right now--that in 2-3 years, VoIP will have evolved to the
point where latency will be a thing of the past and the technology will
be public-safety ready. Which brings me back to the chiefs. Harlin
McEwen (Retired), chairman of the IACP's communications and technology
committee, and Charles Werner, IACF member and deputy chief of the
Charlottesville, Va., fire department, both told me they strongly favor
the Consensus Plan, in large measure because the work can start right
now and there are no "ifs" associated with it. 

The chiefs are concerned about the potentially disastrous ramifications
should the FCC bet on the engineers and they fail. Even if the engineers
succeed, McEwen and Werner believe it will take several years to work
out the kinks to ensure the technology is fail-safe, which it will need
to be for public-safety use, and then several more years to roll out the
networks in cities and towns across the country. In the interim, every
day that goes by increases the likelihood that a police officer or
firefighter will die on the job because their radio didn't work due to
800 MHz band interference. 

For the record, I share that concern. I have a brother who once was a
Cook County (Ill.) Sheriff's deputy, I have a cousin who is retired from
the Chicago Fire Department, and I have two friends on the job right now
with the CFD. I want this interference problem cleared up as quickly as
possible, for the sake of everyone who puts his or her life on the line
for public safety. 

There's also the issue of money, which really cuts to the heart of the
matter--doesn't it always? Even if a mesh network incorporating VoIP is
feasible for public-safety use, not every municipality will have the
cash to toss at the endeavor. It should be noted that while the Garland
project is costing $3.9 million, it is covering a relatively small 57
square miles. "These systems cost big bucks," McEwen said. Also, city
governments aren't going to release several million dollars on a
promise; they need to be convinced. "Do you have any sense of how long
it takes to plan a system?" McEwen asked me. "By the time you bring in a
consultant, it can take 2-3 years. Then you have to build it. So in the
end you could be talking about 7-8 years before you're done. We don't
have that kind of time." 

Werner told me it took 10 years to get Charlottesville to approve a new
$18 million 800 MHz radio system, even though the city is better off
financially than most because the University of Virginia sits in its
environs. "Just getting the towers approved was like pulling eyeteeth,"
Werner said. The network will consist of four towers, which Werner is
hoping will adequately serve a 744-square-mile region that runs the
gamut from mountains to flat lands. If not, well, too bad. "They told us
to not dare come back to them for more towers," Werner said. (Recall
that the mesh architecture requires no towers.) 

There's also the matter of historical preservation, which in Werner's
region is particularly vexing. "It seems that Thomas Jefferson rode his
horse just about everywhere; the entire state is a historic area,"
Werner said, only half in jest. 

In the end, the challenges as described above are why I believe the FCC
will choose the Consensus Plan, although Nextel may not get the 1.9 GHz
spectrum it wants. It can be done right now--which will please public
safety, which rightfully carries a very large stick--and Nextel will pay
for the transition, theoretically at least. But isn't it interesting to
contemplate the decision the commission might have made if we were
having this discussion three years from now? 

E-mail me at gbischoff @ primediabusiness.com

http://enews.primediabusiness.com/enews/mobileradiotech/mrt_bulletin/current

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From: Marcelrf <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2004 16:31:18 -0500

Looks like someone Bumped Their Head!

> spectrum it wants.

 
Yahoo! Groups Links

---

From: Marcelrf <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 28 Feb 2004 05:28:59 -0500

I will respond to you second question:

I have been tracking iDEN interference since 1996. Clearnet /Telus does
have LIMITED interference problems.

Fred Reemeyer- ( LMR operator and "SCAM PLAN" supporter)

From WCTC Annual General Meeting Minutes 2002 May 23 2002-

"Fred Reemeyer has formalized his complaint regarding interference to
his 800MHz trunking system due to IDEN Mike services. He operates in
bands adjacent to the IDEN Mike services. . The IDEN licencee – Telus –
is operating within allowable specifications for side band. Wayne Choi
explained that there is a study underway with Industry Canada in Quebec
regarding the interference level caused by IDEN services. It should be
completed in next few weeks. This issue affects all the 800MHz trunking
operators in all the Canadian metroplotan centers."

http://www.wctc.bc.ca/images/Doc%20Lib/AGM/2002/AGM%20Minutes.pdf

radio wrote:

> I've lurked on this group(s) for a while and rarely post because I'm
> not directly affected by the outcome of this debate. I'm not a lawyer,
> an incumbent nor an engineer or other person of qualification to offer
> a solution. So why would I waste your bandwidth and time? Please, just
> to have you answer a question or two. The major complaint that I have
> heard here is with respect to the safety of PS personnel when affected
> by interference caused by certain users in the 800 band and most
> notably Nextel. As with any circumstance affecting PS workers I can
> understand that this concern is worthy of rectification before the
> 'suggested' worst case scenario of loss of life occurs. My first
> question is: Is this still a valid argument? The concern for the
> immediacy of a solution is valid however since if never seen a
> suggestion that anyone has been harmed so far and that the solution is
> still perhaps years away. I'm weary of what is the real interest. My
> second question is with respect to Canada where I live. The iDen
> technology is in use here commercially as well as with at least one PS
> user in Ontario. I have never heard of any problems here in regard to
> interference so is that something that we should be concerned about in
> the future? J. "Just watch me."  Pierre Elliot Trudeau 1970
>
>      ----- Original Message -----
>      From: Marcelrf
>      To: [email-masked] ;
>      [email-masked] ; WFHSG
>      Sent: Friday, February 27, 2004 16:24 PM
>       ........One solution, presented by Nextel--which is blamed
>      by most for the
>      additional spectrum in the 1.9 GHz band......
>