FCC Commissioners and other agency officials patted themselves on the back yesterday as the Commissioners voted to formally wrap-up its 800 MHz rebanding effort. The program, begun in 2004, enabled public safety, critical infrastructure, and other licensees to operate without the interference that previously plagued first responder communications in these frequencies.
The agency said commercial cell networks operated by Sprint and other providers caused harmful interference to public safety radio systems and other licensees in the band. To reduce the interference, the Commission re-packed the 800 MHz band. The FCC moved Sprint’s system to the upper range of frequencies and public safety licensees to the lower end of the band.
The Commission required Sprint to pay the repacking costs incurred by public safety and other licensees, in addition to its own relocation costs. The telco was also required to secure its financial obligation with a letter of credit.
The rebanding involved “the spectral reconfiguration of tens of thousands of base stations known by more than 2,000 licensees,” said FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr during the vote. He quipped: “It’s safe to say that all of us who were in telecom in D.C. [in 2004] can look back and remember the high-pitched pesky noise that emerged from which there was no easy or quick solution.”
Carr said today is “unlike 2004 when advocates argued that FCC commissioners should be put in jail over the agency’s 800 MHz proceeding. [I’m] not actually joking, if people remember back then, I’m glad no one at the agency ended up in the pokey after this proceeding.”
Michael Wilhelm, who oversaw the effort, plans to retire from the agency later this year, according to Carr, who added Wilhem is a neighbor. Wilhem is the Chief of the Policy and Licensing Division of the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau. He said over 2,100 public safety systems were moved and more than 2.6 million mobile-portable public safety radios were replaced.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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