Court rules against Sprint Nextel in rebanding case 

By: By Donny Jackson

Sprint Nextel will have to vacate its interleaved spectrum in the 800 MHz band by June 26 as part of the rebanding process, a federal appeals court ruled Friday in a decision that is expected to cost the nation’s third-largest carrier at least $1 billion...

Sprint Nextel makes its rebanding case in appeals court 

By: By Donny Jackson

Sprint Nextel argued yesterday before a federal appeals court that an FCC rebanding order approved last fall that requires the carrier to vacate its 800 MHz interleaved spectrum this June unilaterally changed the terms of the commission’s rebanding “contract” with the carrier...

Sprint Nextel: 800 MHz rebanding more costly than expected 

By: Donny Jackson

Sprint Nextel’s costs associated with 800 MHz rebanding almost certainly will exceed the $2.8 billion figure the carrier is required to pay for reconfiguration and that the amount could increase considerably if it fails in its case against the FCC, the carrier stated in an annual SEC filing released on Friday....

Rebanding completions top the 100 NPSPAC licensee mark 

By: By Donny Jackson

ORLANDO--More than 100 public-safety licensees have finished the 800 MHz rebanding process and almost half of the non-border NPSPAC licensees have finalized deals with Sprint Nextel, a Transition Administrator official said during a panel at the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) Winter Summit...

Sprint settles rebanding cost dispute 

By: By Glenn Bischoff

Sprint Nextel recently settled a dispute with the city of Boston over whether the use of inventory-control software that the city had purchased from MCM Technology constituted a recoverable expense related to the reconfiguration of the city’s 800 MHz radio system...

FCC rebanding order creates major headaches 

By: By Glenn Bischoff

ORLANDO--An FCC order issued in September designed to accelerate the reconfiguration of 800 MHz airwaves, a project that is well behind schedule, not only is causing headaches for all involved but is having exactly the opposite effect, according to panelists speaking today at the IWCE-MRT Wireless Summit...

Poarch: Financial benefits of national public-safety network could be enormous 

By: By Glenn Bischoff

ORLANDO--While most in the public-safety community are focused on the exciting applications that will be available to first responders in the field once the 700 MHz high-speed network is deployed several years from now, there might be another benefit that officials will find just as exciting: far less expensive radios in the future. So said Derek Poarch, chief of the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, speaking at today’s IWCE-MRT Summit...

FCC moves to speed 800 MHz rebanding 

By: By Donny Jackson

FCC commissioners this week approved an order and a public notice establishing new benchmarks that are expected to accelerate completion of the behind-schedule reconfiguration process in the 800 MHz spectrum band...

E911 location, 800 MHz rebanding on FCC agenda 

By: By Donny Jackson

FCC commissioners will consider new rules for E911 location accuracy and 800 MHz rebanding—issues critical to public safety—during their regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, according to the agenda released by the agency this week...

APCO: Five NPSPAC licensees complete rebanding 

By: By Donny Jackson

BALTIMORE--Amid considerable frustration regarding the pace of 800 MHz rebanding, a Transition Administrator (TA) official yesterday offered some of the most encouraging news on the project since NPSPAC licensees began negotiating with Sprint Nextel last year...

APCO: FCC ‘turning up the heat’ on rebanding, panelist says 

By: By Donny Jackson

BALTIMORE--Licensees still struggling to reach 800 MHz rebanding agreements with Sprint Nextel should get some help soon from the FCC, but it won’t be in the form of an extension of time beyond the June 2009 deadline to complete the process, an FCC official said yesterday during a panel at the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) conference...

TA releases quarterly report 

By: By Donny Jackson

Rebanding negotiations between 800 MHz NPSPAC licensees and Sprint Nextel have been difficult, but actually executing the work associated with the reconfiguration process could be tougher, according to the Transition Administrator (TA) quarterly report released last week...

FCC says licensees will have to pay for rebanding appeals 

By: By Donny Jackson

NPSPAC licensees operating in the 800 MHz band that don’t sign a rebanding agreement with Sprint Nextel will have to pay their own legal costs if the matter is appealed beyond mandatory mediation, the FCC confirmed in an order released this week...

FCC clarifies rebanding cost standards 

By: By Donny Jackson

Sprint Nextel is not obligated to demand that 800 MHz licensees agree to reband their networks at the absolute lowest cost, but has some flexibility to accept higher costs to move the process forward, according to an FCC order released last Friday...

FCC to consider Frontline, 700 MHz rules without wideband 

By: By Donny Jackson

FCC commissioners yesterday tentatively concluded that public safety spectrum in the 700 MHz band should not be used for wideband applications and opened a proceeding that will include consideration of a public-private partnership proposal from Frontline Wireless...