dailywireless.org » Nextel’s Consensus Move

Nextel’s Consensus Move

Nextel kicked off a lobbying campaign this morning designed to ratchet up interest in the so-called “Consensus Plan“. That plan gives spectrum to public safety interests in exchange for other frequencies Nextel could use for “4G”.

The group includes the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the International Association of Fire Chiefs and the National Sheriff’s Association.

Wireless Week reports the battle between police departments, fire departments and other public safety interests is reaching a fevered pitch. They want the spectrum Nextel is offering them.

The group sent letters to the White House yesterday in hopes of getting presidential backing for their plan. According to IACP spokesman Harlin McEwan, the group also has embarked on other high-profile efforts to get the issue moving at the FCC. John Walsh, host of Fox Television’s “America’s Most Wanted,” talked with government officials in the last couple of weeks about the issue, McEwan said. FCC officials confirmed that Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy was interviewed last week by Walsh for this Saturday night’s broadcast of the show.

The attention-getting tactics come as the FCC is considering 11,000 pages of comments and proposals. FCC insiders say the commission is close to issuing a decision, with a draft of a final order now circulating among the five commissioners.

Opposition comes from cellular carriers who say Nextel would be given a free ride on new spectrum.

“I’m disappointed this is being painted as a corporate battle. It’s much more complicated than that,” said Lauren Patrich, FCC wireless bureau special counsel for media and outreach. “It’s the subject of debate” at the commission “everyday,” she added.

Nextel has won wireless licenses, spectrum, tower leases and other related assets from bankrupt Nucentrix Broadband Networks for $51 million in an auction. Nextel also bought Worldcom’s MMDS licenses for $140 million. That portfolio gives Nextel about 1/3rd of the 2.5 - 2.6 GHz MMDS licenses in the United States - as big as Sprint’s MMDS portfolio.

Nextel offered to give up 10.5 MHz of spectrum on the 800 MHz band for 10 MHz on the 1.9 GHz band, in the Consensus Plan. That plan would redesignate 1910-1915/1990-1995 MHz to Nextel in exchange for pieces of the 700, 800 and 900 MHz spectrum that were awarded to Nextel by the FCC but have caused interference problems with public safety users. Nextel would return those frequencies to the FCC for reassignment to public safety and private wireless operators in exchange for a block of new frequencies. Nextel has offered to pay $850 million to help facilitate this rebanding.

MMDS (between 2.5 GHz and 2.7 GHz), has 200 MHz of licensed spectrum. It’s shared with Instructional Television Fixed Service (ITFS), a band of twenty (20) television channels available for educational institutions.

MDS at 2.1 GHz was originally used to distribute, via microwave, a single channel subscription television service, usually HBO, to home subscribers. Nextel is testing Flarion for “4G” service in the MDS band. That system, which is often said to be the basis of the evolving 802.20 standard, requires licensed frequencies, below 3.5 GHz. Data rates would be mobile, as with 802.16e, but range would likely be better using lower frequencies, in the 700-800 Mhz band.

Mobile Data Architectures
802.16e	802.20	3G
IP 802.16a mobility (more than 1Mbps)	IP roaming & handoff (more than 1Mbps)	Circuit-switched cell data (less than 1Mbps)
Extentions to MAC and PHY from 802.16a	New MAC and PHY with IP and adaptive antennas	W-CDMA & CDMA-2000
Backward compatible with 802.16a	Optimized for full mobility	Evolving GSM or IS-41
Between 2-6 GHz	Licensed Bands below 3.5 GHz	Licensed Bands below 2.7 GHz
Packet Architecture	Packet Architecture	Circuit Architecture
Low latency	Low latency	High latency

Northrop Grumman has also partnered with Flarion to develop U.S. homeland security applications. Their IP-based system is targeting the 24 MHz of spectrum in the 700-MHz band set aside by the Federal Communications Commission for public-safety applications. Specifically, they want 747-752 and 777-782 MHz. This spectrum swapping deal, like the Nextel swap, would likely be disputed by competing cellular carriers.

T-Mobile has also invested in Flarion’s OFDM system, which boosts an average data rate of 1 Mbit/s, using standard PCS cell sites and standard cellular-size, 1.25 MHz channels. That makes it approximately four or five times more spectrally efficient than comparable 3G technologies, cheaper to implement, and significantly faster. It may transition to 802.20. T-Mobile is the U.S. government’s designated Wireless Priority Service where designated leaders are given priority cellular service.

The licensed MMDS band (at 2.6GHz) may be used by Sprint. They appear to be more supportive of the “mobilized” 802.16e varient rather than the “fixed” 802.16a/d standard or the narrower band 802.20 (mobile) specification. Sprint reportedly likes 802.16e because it can - at least theoretically - be received indoors with USB clients or in mobile laptop using PC cards. The expense of truck rolls could be eliminated.

So what have we got? Here’s my guess, which is just idle speculation:

AT&T and Cingular could merge, offering islands of 3G and oceans of EDGE. Mostly voice.
Nextel (and perhaps T-Mobile) could use their licensed 1.9, 2.1 & 2.5GHz spectrum to test out Flarion’s “4G” system in 2005, moving to 802.20 in 2007. Then they’d likely merge.
Sprint would use their licensed 2.5 GHz frequencies for 802.16e “mobilized” 4G in 2006. That could deliver “wireless internet” without a truckroll indoors and out. Verizon might go along but without MMDS spectrum, they’d be forced to share spectrum or use the 5.8 GHz band.
Landline phone or cable operators as well as cities and independent wireless ISPs will use 802.16a/d for “last mile” wireless in the unlicensed 5.8 GHz band starting in 2004. That gives them freedom to erect antennas where needed without the hastle of a license. Some may move to the 802.16e spec (in the unlicensed band) in 2006-7 for mobilized service.

Or not.

DailyWireless has more on Wi-Max Outed, 4G War News, 4G War in Sydney, Korean 3G vrs 4G, 4G Clouds in the United States, 802.16e Vrs 802.20, and Public Safety Communications.

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