Order Speeding End of 800 MHz Rebanding Expected to Get 5-0 Vote

Commissioners are expected to approve, with no dissents and few questions, an order and Further NPRM Friday on the 800 MHz rebanding, FCC and industry officials said. The order is loosely tied to T-Mobile’s proposed buy of Sprint (see 1910020030) but didn’t generate controversy. No parties reported meetings at the FCC on the item in docket 02-55.

The rebanding started under then-FCC Chairman Michael Powell (see 0407090122). It was aimed at addressing interference to 800 MHz public safety radio systems caused by what was then Nextel’s “enhanced” specialized mobile radio system, also operating in the band. Sprint bought Nextel in 2005 and took on its rebanding responsibilities. The transition was to run July 2005 to July 2008.

Commissioners approved the original order 5-0 in July 2004, after months of wrangling. Nextel got 10 MHz of spectrum in the valuable 1.9 GHz band, in exchange for giving up 800 MHz spectrum and agreeing to pay relocation costs. Nextel would have been subject to making an anti-windfall payment if its payouts were less than the value of the spectrum it received. But in 2017, the Public Safety Bureau eliminated that requirement saying Sprint had more than paid for the spectrum (see 1710120033).

“The rebanding process has taken substantially longer than originally contemplated,” the draft order says: “Nevertheless, rebanding has substantially alleviated the interference risk to public safety, and the process is now nearing completion. The 800 MHz Transition Administrator reports that 2,088 licensees have successfully completed physical reconfiguration of their systems, and that only 19 licensees, all in the Mexican border region, have yet to complete physical reconfiguration.”

The order proposed by Chairman Ajit Pai streamlines the process for relocated licensees to certify that the rebanding of their systems is complete and accelerates the dispute resolution process when disagreements about the cost of rebanding occur. The FNPRM seeks comment on whether it should eliminate a requirement that the 800 MHz transition administrator (TA) annually audit Sprint rebanding expenditures. The draft also proposes to drop a requirement that the TA review amendments to frequency reconfiguration agreements “with respect to cost creditability.” The draft says this is no longer necessary because Sprint is no longer subject to making a windfall payment. “Taking these steps in the final stage of the rebanding program will lower program costs and administrative burdens and expedite completion of the rebanding process without adversely affecting full achievement of the program’s goals,” the draft says.

Jan Geldmacher, president of Sprint Business, told MWC Wednesday Sprint is optimistic it will win a states' lawsuit in federal court in New York to block its deal with T-Mobile. “The merger is progressing,” he said. “We have come a long way. We have received, in the meantime, all the federal approvals that are required.” The FCC has voted to approve an order, but it hasn't been released (see 1910160058).

Geldmacher said only T-Mobile/Sprint will “truly” mean nationwide 5G. The deal will combine T-Mobile’s 600 MHz spectrum with 2.5 GHz band frequencies from Sprint and “at the beginning,” the new company won’t be dependent on high-band licenses, he said. “That’s very exciting to bring together these two spectrum holdings and deliver a very low cost per gigabyte.”

LightShed’s Walter Piecyk said Wednesday there's no guarantee DOJ’s consent decree with T-Mobile, Sprint and Dish Network will get easy Tunney Act signoff by Judge Thomas Kelly (see 1910210053). “Mid-November sign off … would be ideal for Sprint and T-Mobile as it would precede the December 9th start of the State … case against the deal,” the analyst wrote. “This would put added pressure on the States to settle in the days leading up to the trial. We think it’s doubtful that New York or California will be among those that settle.” But the transaction “has already attracted atypical (if not unprecedented) moves by the FCC and the States with distinct political overtones,” Piecyk said: “Little would surprise us.”