Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Fix 800Mhz Now-

From: Marcelrf <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 01 Apr 2004 03:13:52 -0500

What's at Stake

The public safety community and our nation's first responders rely on
radio communications to help save lives. But, in some locations around
the country, these crucial radios experience interference. Currently,
the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is considering two very
different plans to eliminate radio interference, each affecting the
public safety community in dramatically different ways. One of the
plans, the Balanced Approach plan, provides public safety with a quick
solution to interference at no cost to public safety.

The Balanced Approach

The Balanced Approach Plan provides a better solution to the problem of
interference to public safety. It aims to eliminate all types of
interference by targeting and fixing the specific locations where the
interference occurs, at the expense of the interfering licensee. This
plan also creates a pro-active method of testing new communications
facilities to ensure that future developments do not create new
problems. Under the rules proposed by the Balanced Approach Plan,
interference will be resolved expeditiously, at no cost to public
safety.

The "Consensus Plan"

The so-called "Consensus Plan" attempts to address interference through
the initiation of an intricate, multi-year process. It aims to eliminate
some interference by completely reshuffling public safety's airwave
assignments, including relocating Public Safety radio assignments even
where there is no interference at all. The plan will take at least 3 1/2
years to complete and concedes it would not eliminate every case of
interference. Nextel, the author the Consensus Plan, has pledged $700
million to public safety, which they say includes the costs of
reshuffling airwave assignments and replacing some public safety radios.
But, this amount will likely fall far short of actual costs. For
example, Motorola - the supplier of an overwhelming percentage of public
safety radios - has suggested that 30% of all public safety radios may
need to be replaced under the Consensus Plan. The Consensus Plan has
only budgeted for replacing 1% of public safety radios - a potential $2
billion shortfall. Where will the extra money come from?

But that's just the opening question: What if the Consensus Plan exceeds
Nextel's funding cap? Or if the reshuffling of radio assignments is left
only partially complete? Or if Nextel fails to deliver on the promised
funds? If the Consensus Plan doesn't unfold exactly as the authors say
it will, and Motorola's filing suggests that it might not, the already
under-funded public safety community will be left in the lurch.  The
Consensus Plan is too uncertain, too costly, too time consuming, and too
complicated. When a car's headlight goes dark, it's time to replace the
headlight. But, the Consensus Plan sees a broken headlight and wants to
replace it with a different, more expensive car.

How You Can Help

Only the public and the public safety community can convince the FCC
that a targeted, pro-active approach, such as the Balanced Approach
Plan, can best solve today's and tomorrow's radio interference problems.
Please take the time to use this Web site to learn more about this
issue. Then, send a letter to the FCC. Join dozens of other public
safety groups from around the nation in support the faster, more
effective and more efficient Balanced Approach Plan to ending public
safety radio interference.

http://www.fix800mhznow.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=main.home
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