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wondering pawn
@optonline.net
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Re: BPL just won't die: another vendor trying BPL
Why did the Hamster`s group allows NEXTEL to interfere with Emergency Communications since mid-1990`s ... if it was vocally fighting against BPL for fear it will interfere with 911 system... is this a bias campaign ????
from: USA TODAY Posted 1/15/2006 8:51 PM
Swap of airwaves encounters snags
By Paul Davidson, USA TODAY
A long-awaited swap of airwaves aimed at eliminating cellphone interference with emergency-service radios across the USA is in turmoil, prolonging communications problems and risking public safety, law enforcement officials say.
Public-safety officials and consultants largely blame cost disputes with Sprint Nextel, which is bankrolling the $2.8 billion project. They fear the spectrum transfer, which began in July and is to be completed by mid-2008, could be delayed or done improperly, further hindering communications.
Sprint Nextel says the disputes were to be expected.
"We have significant concerns that the process has been stalled," says Robert Gurss of the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials, which last week voiced its concerns to the Federal Communications Commission. "Interference could endanger lives."
Since the mid-1990s, Nextel cellphones have disrupted public-safety radio systems in hundreds of cities, including Seattle, Miami and Denver. The reason: Frequencies used by public safety and Nextel are interlaced. The problem sometimes hampers emergency response, such as when firefighters at a 2004 Elks Lodge blaze in Mesquite, Texas, could not use their walkie-talkies.
That year, the FCC approved a plan to move Nextel and public safety to separate blocks of spectrum. Sprint Nextel, which acquired Nextel last year, will get prime airwaves valued at $4.8 billion. In exchange, it must give up airwaves worth $2 billion and pay for retuning radios, estimated to cost $2.8 billion. But if retuning costs more, Sprint Nextel must pay up, even if it loses money.
That caveat has prompted the company to dispute nearly all of the dozens of funding requests public-safety agencies have made and to not even respond to many of them, say emergency responders and their biggest adviser, RCC Consultants. Unresolved feuds are being reviewed by a mediator whose decision can be appealed to the FCC.
Sprint Nextel "is arguing over every cent," says RCC chief Mike Hunter. For instance, he says, the company disputed the $14,000 that Manasass, Va., schools seek to retune radios for their buses, saying $8,000 should be sufficient.
Sprint Nextel denies pinching pennies. "We are committed to spend whatever it takes" but want to "make sure costs are appropriate," says company executive Geoffrey Stearn.
Public-safety agencies and RCC also assail the project's managers, led by BearingPoint. Despite netting more than $20 million in fees so far, the managers haven't closely monitored negotiations or prodded Sprint Nextel to be more responsive, they say.
BearingPoint's Brett Haan, who's overseeing the swap, said the managers "take the concerns of public safety very seriously" and are working "to make sure the (project) is fast, fair and efficient."
The FCC is "looking into these issues," said spokesman David Fiske. | |
wonderingaboutbpl
@secureserver.net | Wondering pawn, you know if there is any BPL service in New Jersey? | |
moonpuppy
join:2000-08-21
Glen Burnie, MD
 ·Verizon Online DSL
| reply to wondering pawn
said by wondering pawn :
Why did the Hamster`s group allows NEXTEL to interfere with Emergency Communications since mid-1990`s ... if it was vocally fighting against BPL for fear it will interfere with 911 system... is this a bias campaign ????
Because the band which Nextel and trunked radio operate are not used by the HAM radio community and therefore, we have no say in how those are used.
AND, if you bothered to do any research, you would have known that one of the big obstacles to swapping the frequencies was Verizon. Verizon wanted the space the FCC was giving Nextel (before the merger) to be auctioned off (so that Verizon could buy it themselves.) The end of that was when Nextel gave up the copyright on "Push to Talk" that Nextel had associated with their service.
That year, the FCC approved a plan to move Nextel and public safety to separate blocks of spectrum. Sprint Nextel, which acquired Nextel last year, will get prime airwaves valued at $4.8 billion.
Above is noted the spectrum that Verizon wanted. | |
rf_engineer
join:2003-08-04
USA
| reply to wondering pawn
said by wondering pawn :
Why did the Hamster`s group allows NEXTEL to interfere with Emergency Communications since mid-1990`s ... if it was vocally fighting against BPL for fear it will interfere with 911 system... is this a bias campaign ????
How ironic you're promoting BPL and then posting about the Nextel interference fiasco. If anything, this illustrates what happens when outdated regulations are not changed to reflect current spectrum usage. BPL is essentially using outdated regulations in FCC Part 15 that allowed intermittent narrowband radio frequency energy emitters so that small unlicensed consumer devices could exist like kid's walkie-talkies, garage door openers, cordless phones, etc. BPL takes this little regulation and totally exceeds its intent, putting a 7x24 hour broadband signal on a distributed antenna system covering a large geographical area.
The difference between the Nextel fiasco and BPL is the FCC was told BPL would be a problem. Companies like Motorola who have wireless experience knew it as well and changed their design accordingly to include component-based filters. Current Communications for the most part avoids HF radio spectrum. Companies like Amperion and Ambient with software-based notches but still attempting to use HF spectrum are at a disadvantage. Companies demonstrating to utilities that they can prevent interference issues and not sweep them under the rug will be getting the contracts from utilities.
BPL could interfere with public safety frequencies in VHF bands where some BPL systems are moving, but organizations like APCO have been rather quiet. BPL is going to interfere with whatever services are on the frequencies it uses due its unshielded medium, the power line. This is why BPL should have never gotten off the drawing board. But I digress.
It's funny how you bash "hamsters" for not speaking up about the Nextel issue which the public safety community was vocal about, yet we're portrayed as villians when we're vocal about our own spectrum and let others defend theirs. The "bias campaign" is all yours. | |
KB2PSM
join:2002-08-06
Long Beach, NY | Man...what he said!
(can't say it any better!) | |
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