Subject: [NEXTEL-1] In a Bizarre Decision, Company That Causes Interference to Police Communications is Rewarded Handsomely by the Federal Government

From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 08 Jul 2004 14:49:56 -0400

Verizon Wireless Statement on FCC Decision to
 Award Multi-Billion Dollar Windfall to Nextel
 Thursday July 8, 2:40 pm ET

In a Bizarre Decision, Company That Causes Interference to Police
Communications is Rewarded Handsomely by the
Federal Government

BEDMINSTER, N.J., July 8 /PRNewswire/ -- The Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) today announced its preferred way to eliminate
interference caused by Nextel to public safety communications: a
spectrum give-away worth billions of dollars in lost revenue to the U.S.
Treasury. Bypassing both Congress and the FCC's own spectrum auction
process, and conferring a multi- billion dollar windfall on Nextel at
taxpayer expense, Commissioners took the bizarre step of rewarding
Nextel, which acknowledges that its operations cause interference to
police, fire department and other public safety communications. Verizon
Wireless issued the following statement:

"The FCC has failed to provide a lawful solution to the challenge
presented by Nextel's interference with communications vital to the
nation's first responders. Now Congress must step in to fix this mess.
Only Congress has the Constitutional authority to spend taxpayer
dollars. Instead of seeking a lawful appropriation from Congress to
finance the work of untangling public safety's frequencies from Nextel's
interference, the FCC has pushed ahead, while serious legal questions
raised by senior Congressional leaders remain unanswered.

Has the FCC financed this project illegally by bypassing both the
Congress and the auction process?

Is the award of billions of dollars worth of prime spectrum to a private
commercial service provider prohibited by federal law?

"As the GAO investigates the legality of Nextel's spectrum windfall and
Members of Congress continue to express deep concern about the loss of
billions of dollars to the U.S. Treasury, taxpayers and first responders
would have been far better served if the FCC had allowed the GAO and
Congress to assess the legality of the Nextel spectrum grab before
approving it."

About Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless is the nation's leading provider of wireless
communications. The company has the largest nationwide wireless voice
and data network and 40 million customers. Headquartered in Bedminster,
NJ, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE:
VZ - News) and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD - News News). Find more
information on the Web at http://www.verizonwireless.com . To receive
broadcast-quality video footage of Verizon Wireless operations, log onto
http://www.thenewsmarket.com/verizonwireless
.
      MEDIA CONTACT:
      Jeffrey Nelson
      Verizon Wireless
908.306.4824
[email-masked]
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