Letters
‘Where is the FCC in the midst of all this Nextel controversy?’
I congratulate MRT on its continued dissection of the Nextel shenanigans. The February 2002 edition totally “knocked the ball out of the park,” so to speak.
Anyone with half a brain can see that Nextel’s 800MHz plan is just what it appears to be: a scam to get more bandwidth, higher market value and culpable deniability for Nextel’s atrocious and illegal interference with public safety and business wireless operations.
Throughout all this, though, one must ask the question “Where is the FCC’s dreaded Enforcement Division?” Is the era of Michael Powell one of “turn the other cheek,” or “turn a blind eye?” Is it reminiscent of Clinton’s nefarious “Don’t ask, don’t tell?”
The FCC will be the first to jump on shortwave “pirate” radio stations, non-compliant ham radio operators or CB’ers and punish through equipment confiscation and heavy fines. Yet, where is the FCC in the midst of all this Nextel controversy? Have they been bought off by Nextel kick backs? What happened to the unwritten rule of “He/she who causes interference must fix the problem?”
“Where’s the beef,” or the FCC for that matter?
The FCC needs to start doing its job, or else admit to the public that it is truly a “paper tiger.”
Chairman Powell, it is “put up or shut up” time. Either step up to the plate or go home and eat cookies with your Nextel playmates.
Keep up the great work, MRT.
— D. Loren Fields,
N1UMF
Augusta, Maine
Nextel issues
Great article (“Dealing with a Rude Neighbor,” MRT, February 2002) covering the past and present issues at hand with Nextel and its dedicated, well-known Form 600/601 printing press. Does Nextel’s IDEN system, developed by Motorola, stand for Nextel “Interference Denying Every Neighbor” of reliable communications? Great reading.
— David W. Moriarty
Project Manager-Communications Systems
HNTB
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