Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Cell-Phone Trade Group Goes Against Nextel

From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 30 Apr 2004 02:53:02 -0400

Cell-Phone Trade Group Goes Against Nextel
By Yuki Noguchi
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 30, 2004; Page E01

The cellular phone trade association took the unusual step of wading
into a nasty fight between two of its members and voted to endorse a
policy that is strongly opposed by Reston-based Nextel Communications
Inc.

The Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association said it was only
trying to negotiate a truce between Nextel and some of its rivals,
including the most vocal among them -- Verizon Wireless.

Nextel has proposed giving up some of its existing airwaves and paying
$850 million to move fire, police, and emergency communications systems
to minimize interference from cellular communications systems; in return
Nextel would receive a swath of spectrum in a higher frequency.  But
Verizon Wireless has said Nextel should pay at least five times that
amount for that spectrum, and is working hard to block the effort.

The CTIA, without Nextel attending, voted to support a plan to move
Nextel to a less-valuable spectrum -- a proposal the Federal
Communications Commission is considering. Under CTIA's plan, Nextel
would also pay $3 billion to relocate the public safety and other
wireless carriers. The trade group plans to file its proposal with the
FCC today.
Before the vote, Verizon Wireless was pushing this plan in meetings
Wednesday with the FCC, according to a source close to the commission
who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the pending proceeding.

Publicly, Verizon Wireless officials said they only grudgingly accepted
the CTIA plan. "We supported this position despite our misgivings . . .
because it does so much good for law enforcement and public safety,"
said spokesman Jeffrey Nelson. He said Verizon Wireless did not request
that the CTIA take this action.

John Walls, a spokesman for CTIA, said the trade group, not Verizon
Wireless, initiated the meeting. "What we've always tried to do is find
a middle ground," said Walls. "We're trying to come up with a solution
that doesn't give an advantage or a disadvantage from an industry
standpoint."

Of 23 members of CTIA's board, 15 members attended the meeting by phone.
The group declined to disclose the results or attendants of the vote,
but a source close to CTIA who spoke on condition of anonymity said the
vote was unanimous.
Nextel spokeswoman Leigh Horner said Nextel declined to participate in
the vote, dismissing CTIA's plan. "We just think it's ludicrous that
they are proposing to solve the problem that they have caused at our
expense," she said. She said the other companies also cause interference
with public safety communication systems.

Almost a month ago, three of the five FCC commissioners voted on a basic
plan agreeing to relocate the parties and offer Nextel the 1.9 gigahertz
spectrum, but the commission remains undecided on how much Nextel should
pay, or whether the original plan should be amended to relocate Nextel
to less-desirable 2.1 gigahertz airwaves which are not currently used
for cellular transmission. Sources close to the commissioners say all of
the commissioners are willing to consider the 2.1 range as a compromise,
but that no such proposal has been formalized.

Nextel has said it will not accept a substitute for the spectrum it
requested.

"The problem with 2.1 is that it is not a fair exchange for Nextel,"
said Geoff Stearn, vice president of spectrum resources for the company.
Equipment is not readily available, and Nextel would have to pay more to
relocate occupants in that range, he said.

The entire proceeding has become a toxic political issue for the FCC --
putting pressure on the agency to resolve public-safety concerns
quickly, but at the same time also deliver a plan that won't be
perceived as favoring Nextel over its rivals. A growing number of
politicians -- including New York state attorney general Eliot Spitzer
-- are urging the commission not to hand Nextel what they consider a
windfall.

According to sources close to FCC commissioners, who spoke on condition
of anonymity because of the proceedings, the staff is trying to come up
with a plan in the next couple of weeks that will pass muster in court
because -- as officials at Nextel, Verizon Wireless and the FCC
privately acknowledge -- litigation of any decision on the issue is
almost inevitable.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54644-2004Apr29.html

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