NEXTEL SEEKS FIX FOR 800 MHZ INTERFERENCE

Further delays could threaten public safety, says founder Morgan O'Brien, but Nextel opponents call carrier's proposal a bid for more spectrum.

As firefighters braved mammoth wildfires in California last week, the powers of the wireless industry and Washington, D.C., continued debating how best to solve radio interference problems in the 800 MHz spectrum band.

The interference mostly is being caused unintentionally by Nextel Communications' adjacent frequencies, but it could hamper the ability of public safety personnel to effectively communicate during emergencies.

The issue revolves around a chunk of the 800 MHz spectrum band adjacent to frequencies at the 700 MHz, 800 MHz and 900 MHz bands owned and operated by Nextel. Nextel's frequencies are interleaved with those at 800 MHz used for private wireless networks and land mobile radio networks used by public safety agencies such as police departments, fire departments, municipal governments and emergency management services organizations.

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE Nextel’s Consensus Plan generating little static from public safety officials by Jason Ankeny TelephonyOnline.com, Nov 3 2003

The Federal Communications Commission has fast-tracked the issue, according to comments by FCC Chairman Michael Powell, and expects to rule on an interference resolution sometime in the next few months. One FCC watcher speculated that the ruling could come within a few weeks.

Later is more likely, however, said Jeremy Denton, director of external affairs at the Industrial Telecommunications Association, which represents private wireless users affected by the interleaved portion of the 800 MHz spectrum.

“I'm not sure the end of the year is realistic—January more likely,” Denton said. “But if the FCC has its ducks in a row, who knows? They fast-tracked it because they know the interference is detrimental to public safety.”

The FCC is hoping to act by early next year, and is evaluating “various plans and their benefits,” said a spokeswoman for the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau.

Nextel founder and vice chairman Morgan O'Brien told Telephony in an interview last week that it is critical that the FCC act soon on the issue, which came to light more than four years ago when public safety and private wireless users in several cities reported interference with Nextel tower transmissions.

“The problem cannot be ignored,” O'Brien said. “It's an issue that potentially threatens public safety agencies and the safety of individuals. We've proposed a radical and permanent fix, and we're willing to put money on the table for it.”

Public safety groups also are calling for a timely resolution. “It's an issue that's dragged on for far too long,” said Alan Tilles, an attorney with the Washington, D.C., firm of Shulman, Rogers, Gandal, Pordy and Ecker. Tilles represents public safety concerns, including the City of Denver, and the Personal Communications Industry Association, several airlines and SMR operators.

Nextel's proposed fix, known as the Consensus Plan because it is backed by the carrier as well as the vast majority of public safety and private wireless groups, calls for Nextel to pay as much as $850 million to relocate the specific users with whom it interferes. It also proposes Nextel give up ownership of 16 MHz of spectrum at the interleaved frequencies, and receive 16 MHz of “cleaner” spectrum in the 1.9 GHz band.

“The Consensus Plan moves public safety out of the hammock between Nextel's frequencies and Cellular Band ‘A,’ which removes the potential for interference with anyone,” Tilles said. Though Nextel has been the primary interfering commercial carrier in a number of reported cases, Tilles said one of his clients, the City of Denver, has reported some interference from AT&T Wireless.

Nextel contends that the Consensus Plan is the only way of eliminating the potential for future interference.

“It's the only viable plan out there,” O'Brien said. “A re-banding solution is the only way to guarantee an end to the interference.” Other options include technical re-tuning on a case-by-case basis. Motorola developed a re-tuning toolkit to alleviate interference, but O'Brien said re-engineering doesn't guarantee that interference won't occur.

The ITA's Denton added, “The toolkit is complementary, but it's not a silver bullet.”

Nextel's proposed trade of spectrum, however, has raised the ire of the CTIA and Nextel's mobile carrier competitors, who claim the company is using the interference issue as a way to wrangle free spectrum without going to auction. They have said the new spectrum will be far more valuable than Nextel's proposed relocation fees, and that interference can be easily solved through technical solutions like Motorola's toolkit.

O'Brien insisted the spectrum is part of a fair trade. “Public safety is responsible to the public, and Nextel is responsible to its shareholders,” O'Brien said. “We want a resolution to this crisis, but it has to make financial sense to our shareholders.”

The CTIA and others have proposed what they call the “balanced approach” to solving interference, under which the interferer pays for any necessary reengineering within the band. Spectrum owners would coordinate efforts to prevent future interference, but without resorting to relocation, and interferers would receive no new spectrum.

“The balanced approach is too reactive,” Denton said, adding that relocation is necessary to create “white space” between the various commercial and private spectrum licensees.

Also, the allegation that Nextel is getting free or “additional” spectrum is incorrect, said Tilles. “All the parties at the table are giving up something and getting something,” Tilles said. “The other carriers oppose Nextel because it's Nextel.”

The FCC reportedly also is considering a compromise of the Consensus Plan that would give Nextel less spectrum, though several sources involved in the issue denied a potential deal was in the works. O'Brien said any compromise ignores the real issue at hand. “The issue has nothing to do with spectrum amounts,” he said. “That's a side show to the main event. It's too dangerous to make this issue a spectrum negotiation.”

Indeed, some public safety operators aren't waiting for the FCC to anoint a solution. The City of Denver, one of the larger public entities that has experienced interference, already has alleviated some of its problems via a spectrum swap it negotiated with Nextel. Tilles said Nextel, for the most part, has been a progressive partner, working with his clients and others to draft and shape the Consensus Plan.

Nextel bought the spectrum adjacent to 800 MHz holders years ago and knew other operators were there but didn't experience interference until former SMR operators tuned an increasing number of its towers to commercial frequencies.

“I was in denial when I first heard about the interference,” O'Brien said. “Then we worked with the CTIA to come up with some ‘best practices’ on how to handle interference, but these practices were clearly like a Band-Aid.”

In the initial Consensus Plan, Nextel proposed that public safety and private wireless operators pay for their own relocation, but the carrier eventually agreed to commit up to $850 million for relocation — though only $25 million of that money is required up front if the FCC approves the Consensus Plan.

“We wouldn't advocate a plan that proposed a cost for our members,” Denton said. ITA constituents like the Consensus Plan because it handles interference in a way that will impact about 30% of private wireless users in the 800 MHz band.

Critics of the Consensus Plan have said that ongoing interference should be addressed through technical solutions until the 700 MHz spectrum frequencies become available. Broadcasters are supposed to relinquish that spectrum by 2006 as they convert to digital technology.

However, auction plans for the 700 MHz spectrum have been delayed before, and many broadcasters have said they won't meet the deadline. This conversion already has taken longer than expected, Tilles said.

“700 MHz is owned by your rich uncle, and you're waiting for him to die,” O'Brien said. “But he won't die.”

O'Brien reiterated that with public safety and homeland security more pressing than ever, a resolution can't wait any longer.

“The whole thing went into hyperdrive after Sept. 11. Nextel and the 800 MHz operators have been neighbors without fences,” O'Brien said. “Now we can be neighbors with a fence.”