Sprint Told to Spend More Freely to Finish 800 MHz Rebanding
The FCC expects Sprint Nextel to spend as reasonably needed in its study of whether to pay 800 MHz rebanding costs sought by public safety agencies, the agency said Fri. in response to complaints by public safety officials. The 5 commissioners also issued a rare joint statement saying they expect rebanding to be done promptly. The order and statement came as the FCC bears down on the ongoing 800 MHz rebanding, designed to keep Sprint Nextel calls from interfering with public safety communications.
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“We… hope that our action today will spur the parties to reorient their approach to this process,” said the statement: “The minimization of costs is emphatically not the sole or even the primary purpose of the rebanding process. More important is that rebanding proceed as quickly and effectively as possible.”
Sources traced the statement’s origin to Comr. Copps, but the other FCC members agreed the FCC needed to makes its aims clear. “Expeditiously eliminating interference between commercial and public safety users is the goal that motivates all of us,” the statement said: “And we sincerely hope that all parties will keep their eyes on that prize even as they work through the details of this complex process.”
The memorandum opinion and order addresses language in the landmark 2004 Commission rebanding order. That document required licensees to certify that the funds they seek from Sprint are “the minimum necessary to provide facilities comparable to those presently in use.” In an April filing at the FCC, Sprint said it felt obliged to hew strictly to the order for fear of facing criminal liability for agreeing to compensation of licensees later found to exceed the minimum cost standard. Sprint asked for “unambiguous Commission guidance and permission to spend more dollars than it may think is absolutely necessary in order to move retuning forward.”
In a May letter, safety groups endorsed Sprint’s calls for clarity, saying a major problem with the rebanding process has been “the hundreds of protracted negotiations between Sprint Nextel and public safety licensees.”
In Fri.’s order, the FCC said minimum cost “does not mean the absolute lowest cost in all circumstances.” The Commission added: “We do not expect Sprint to insist on reducing rebanding costs to their lowest possible level if the cost savings it seeks to achieve come at the expense of a reasonable, prudent, and timely approach toward accomplishing the rebanding task in question.”
The Assn. of Public Safety Communications Officials said the order should resolve “many of the disputes that are standing in the way of timely and efficient rebanding of 800 MHz public safety systems.”
Meanwhile, carriers are raising concerns that an E-911 order circulating on the 8th floor could leave them vulnerable to lawsuits in state court should the Commission revise location requirements. The FCC is poised to impose rules (CD May 14 p1) requiring carriers to locate emergency calls by using individual public safety answering points (PSAPs). Carriers prefer statewide averaging.
The problem is that the new FCC requirements will come by way of a clarification of 1998 rule rather that through a new regulation. Clarification is easier procedurally and doesn’t require the Commission to put out a public notice or seek comments. But clarification could have the unintended effect of making the mandate retroactive. This could leave carriers liable for suits in state court by anyone claiming to have suffered harm because E-911 requirements weren’t strict enough, they say.
Carriers have raised the issue with the Commission, sources said. But sources in and out of the agency called the risk minimal: “It’s a very small part of the bigger issues that are pending before the Commission, the industry and public safety,” one said.
“While we are still reviewing the FCC’s order, Sprint is pleased that the Commission has responded to our request for additional flexibility in negotiating the costs related to the 800 MHz reconfiguration,” the company said: “We are optimistic this will help advance the initiative and look forward to continuing to work with all parties to complete the reconfiguration.”