Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Law Agencies Look for Radio Waves

From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 02:40:22 -0400

Law Agencies Look for Radio Waves
Friday, April 09, 2004

By Liza Porteus

NEW YORK — In June 2001, Denver police officers on a narcotics
surveillance mission witnessed a suspect shoot another then flee down an
alley. Officers chased the shooting suspect for a block before they were
able to get through on their radios to call for backup.
In another instance, Denver officers responded to a "shots fired" call
and found a victim slowly bleeding to death. Police tried to call for
cover and get an ambulance on the scene but the police radios wouldn't
work. Eventually, the victim died.

Public safety officials say they first noticed in 1999 that heavy
cell-phone signal traffic on the airwaves was causing interference on
public-safety radios. The problem stems from overcrowding on spectrum —
the invisible bands high in the sky in which cell phones, radio, TV
stations, public safety and various wireless devices operate.

Public safety portions of the spectrum are so close to others —
particularly that of Nextel Communications — that overcrowding and
interference is occurring.

"We've had numerous times out on the highway where officers simply can't
transmit or they can't hear the dispatcher talk to them," said Steve
Cooper, division chief of patrol for the Denver Police Department. "So
all in all, you can see it creates a very dangerous situation."
Efforts by Nextel and public safety groups haven't been able to stop the
bleeding of signals. Law enforcement groups and Capitol Hill lawmakers
now say something needs to be done to solve the problem quickly.

"The bottom line is you've got to stand shoulder to shoulder with public
safety," Rep. Vito Fossella, R-N.Y., told Foxnews.com. New York is one
of the cities that has had mounting concerns about the blocked radio
lines.

The Federal Communications Commission (search) normally auctions off
spectrum to wireless companies and others. But now, in an effort to
resolve the problem, the commission is contemplating a trade-off
proposal from Nextel.

Nextel wants higher-range spectrum, where more advanced cellular
services operate, so it can use those frequencies if it migrates to new
technologies. In return, it will give up its current bands and
contribute $850 million to the cost of reorganizing the spectrum so all
public safety is on one end and re-tuning all public-safety radios for
those frequencies.

"It doesn't work if you try to keep everybody on," said Nextel
spokeswoman Lee Horner, who described cramming everyone on that band as
"packing a minivan as much as you can, locking the doors shut and
saying, 'everyone rearrange themselves' … that doesn't work."
Nextel's plan, dubbed the "consensus plan," has the support of groups
like the Association of Public Safety Communication Officials (search),
who say that company has gone further than any other in addressing the
problem. But critics of the plan, such as the National Taxpayers Union
(search) and Cingular Wireless, say the plan will give Nextel unfair
market advantage.

They want the FCC to put the spectrum up for auction, where they say it
can rake in anywhere from $3 billion to $5 billion.
"The plan currently under consideration by the FCC would take three
years, in the best case scenario, to reduce radio interference, and
additional steps thereafter to eliminate public safety interference,"
said Travis Larson, spokesman for Cellular Telecommunications and
Internet Association (search).

"So we're talking about well over three years to end what could be a
life-threatening problem for public safety officials."
Verizon told the FCC Thursday that it would pay at least $5 billion for
the spectrum Nextel wants if an auction was held. It may consider legal
action if the auction isn't held, Verizon officials said.

Consensus plan critics like Verizon say it would be better to fix
problems where they arise. Their alternative, known as the "balanced
approach plan," tries to resolve interference within 60 days of being
reported at no cost to public safety.

Microsoft doesn't throw out Windows and start from scratch when there's
a problem, Larson pointed out, but "instead, they issue patches which
are picked up by IT managers to fix problems. … It's best to focus on
the limited and specific problems as opposed to scrapping the entire
system."

The FCC says, however, that while various cell-phone companies like
Verizon and others would surely like to be able to bid on the spectrum
themselves, fixing the public safety problems is of paramount concern.
The commission could take up the spectrum-swap issue next Thursday.
"I understand the argument that people don't like the idea this is 10
megahertz [of available spectrum] that could be used by other wireless
carriers if the commission decided to auction it," an FCC official told
Foxnews.com. But "we have the authority to do what we have to do to
protect public safety."

Some groups and lawmakers are concerned the consensus plan won't provide
enough money to fix everything.
The Nextel offer "is far short of what would be needed to replace
literally millions of radios that would be rendered obsolete by the
plan's massive spectrum ealignment forcing public safety communications
onto new channels," Art Gordon, national executive vice president of the
Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (search), said in a recent
letter to President Bush.

Lawmakers like Fossella and Rep. Richard Boucher, D-Va., and cities like
New York are worried taxpayers will end up footing the bill.
"An analogy that's appropriate here is saying, 'We're gonna give the
police department better police cars and the fire department better fire
engines but we're not going to give them the money for the gas,'"
Fossella said.

"I think a legitimate question is, who's going to pay for the full
transition if the money isn't there under the plan?" the Staten Island
congressman continued, adding that some estimates put the cost of
reorganizing and re-tuning public safety frequencies at $1 billion. "I
want to do as much as possible to make sure these agencies, cities and
states and taxpayers aren't left holding the bag upwards to the tune of
$1 billion."

The FCC official said if the agency decides to adopt the consensus plan,
it will likely require more money from Nextel than $850 million.
But public safety officials say $850 million is better than nothing and
that the government has to find some way to make up the difference.
"When you're talking about public safety officers dealing with life and
death situations," Cooper said, "I don't care where the money comes
from, someone needs to fix it."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,116617,00.html
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