https://urgentcomm.com/wp-content/themes/ucm_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Multimedia
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Galleries
    • IWCE’s Video Showcase
    • Product Guides
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • Commentary
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • All Things IWCE
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • IWCE
    • Conference
    • Special Events
    • Exhibitor Listings
    • Premier Partners
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Register for IWCE
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
    • Cookie Policy
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • Mission Critical Technologies
    • TU-Auto
  • In the field
    • Back
    • In the field
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Internet of Things
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Call Center/Command
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Network Tech
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Operations
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Regulations
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • Organizations
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
Urgent Communications
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Omdia Crit Comms Circle Podcast
    • Galleries
    • IWCE’s Video Showcase
    • Product Guides
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • All Things IWCE
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
    • UC eZines
    • Sponsored content
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • Conference
    • Why Attend
    • Exhibitor Listing
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Join the Event Mailing List
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • TU-Auto
  • newsletter
  • In the field
    • Back
    • Internet of Things
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Cybersecurity
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
acc.com

Urgent Matters


Ten years later, 800 MHz rebanding proves to be an enlightening exercise

  • Written by Donny Jackson
  • 8th July 2014
It has taken much longer than originally expected, but 800 MHz rebanding is almost complete in most of the United States 10 years after the FCC established a plan for the spectral reconfiguration of the band. Was it worth the effort?

What is in this article?

  • Ten years later, 800 MHz rebanding proves to be an enlightening exercise
  • Ten years later, 800 MHz rebanding proves to be an enlightening exercise

Ten years later, 800 MHz rebanding proves to be an enlightening exercise

“I don’t know whether this rebanding thing will work or not, but I can guarantee you this: There’s no way this is going to be finished in three years. There’s just too much to do.”

This quote was uttered to me in early 2005 by a public-safety official who was standing in line for food during a break taken at a meeting being conducted in the Tomorrowland Hotel at Walt Disney World, where the ambitious three-year schedule for 800 MHz reconfiguration had just been unveiled.

My thoughts turned to this statement recently as I realized that a significant anniversary was approaching. Exactly 10 years ago today, FCC commissioners approved a plan to reconfigure the 800 MHz band in a manner that would spectrally separate public-safety LMR systems from commercial cellular networks—primarily the iDEN systems owned by Nextel Communications—in an effort to prevent interference to the mission-critical networks used by first responders.

Nextel Communications officials spent months deliberating whether to accept the FCC rebanding deal—this was not a mandate to the carrier, because the plan called for the company to pay for the entire process—but eventually did so. In the interim, the FCC appointed BearingPoint to lead the team that would act as the 800 MHz Transition Administrator (or TA, as it would become known). This was followed soon by the announcement that Nextel planned to merge with Sprint, which assumed the obligation of paying for rebanding activities.

During the meeting at the Tomorrowland Hotel, TA officials outlined a four-phase process to execute rebanding—a plan that was supposed to begin in July 2005 and end in July 2008, with the caveat that the final phase could not begin until international treaties were signed with Canada and Mexico.

Today, that timeline seems absolutely laughable, but the fact today is that rebanding largely is complete. During the month of June, 10 NPSPAC regions completed 800 MHz rebanding, leaving only four non-border licensees in the entire country that still have to reband their LMR systems, according to Sprint’s filing with the FCC last week. All rebanding work along the Canadian border also is complete, except in the state of Washington.

Of course, most of the remaining 800 MHz rebanding work is located along the U.S.-Mexico border, largely because delays in reaching a spectrum treaty with Mexico resulted in the rebanding process not starting in earnest until August of last year.

From the beginning of this process, industry experts said that completing the reconfiguration process along the Mexican border would be the most challenging part of rebanding, for both technical and political reasons. Now that a plan is in place, there remain some lingering concerns about who will pay for rebanding on the Mexican side of the border and whether there will be difficulties synchronizing the spectral moves in a way that limits potential interference.

Exactly how much money will be needed for 800 MHz rebanding on the Mexican side of the border is still unclear, but Sprint and NII Holdings—the former Nextel International company that still operates under the Nextel brand and has roaming relationships with Sprint in Mexico—have “agreed to basically take responsibility for funding [rebanding in Mexico], within certain limitations,” according to David Furth, deputy chief of the FCC’s public-safety and homeland-security bureau.

Hopefully, 800 MHz rebanding work along the Mexican border can be executed without a lot of excess problems, so it can be completed during the next couple of years.

Meanwhile, with the end of rebanding in sight, the question that many in the industry are asking is: Was the massive process worth all of the effort?

My belief is that rebanding has been worthwhile, although the reasons are not the ones given for initiating the process. After all, there is evidence that interference with 800 MHz public-safety systems still exists after rebanding has been completed, so the main purpose of the program was not resolved completely (it should be noted that no one ever claimed that rebanding would remove all interference, only that it should lessen the problem).

1 | 2 |
Ten years later, 800 MHz rebanding proves to be an enlightening exercise
Tags: Regulation Commentary Coverage/Interference FCC Land Mobile Radio Policy Rebanding Urgent Matters Commentary

Related Content

Commentary


How 5G is making cities safer, smarter, and more efficient

26th January 2023

3GPP moves Release 18 freeze date to March 2024

18th January 2023

Do smart cities make safer cities?

  • 1
6th January 2023
view all

Events


UC Ezines


IWCE 2019 Wrap Up

13th May 2019
view all

Twitter


UrgentComm

Public-safety coalition renews efforts to secure federal NG911 funding dlvr.it/ShwGfn

4th February 2023
UrgentComm

Newscan: Cyberattacks on DoE national labs draw lawmaker scrutiny dlvr.it/Shvpw3

3rd February 2023
UrgentComm

The shine begins to wear off 5G private wireless dlvr.it/Shth0P

3rd February 2023
UrgentComm

Phishers trick Microsoft into granting them ‘verified’ Cloud Partner status dlvr.it/Shqngn

2nd February 2023
UrgentComm

Shapeshifting robot can morph from a liquid to a solid dlvr.it/Shqk9K

2nd February 2023
UrgentComm

Automakers against stampede to BEV dominance dlvr.it/ShpX08

2nd February 2023
UrgentComm

FCC nominee Gigi Sohn headed for third Senate hearing dlvr.it/ShpDcZ

1st February 2023
UrgentComm

Sign up to learn how to successfully manage your Motorola ASTRO® 25 System: spr.ly/60143j8fp https://t.co/XcxiUwzN27

1st February 2023

Newsletter

Sign up for UrgentComm’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about Communications and Technology.

Expert Commentary

Learn from experts about the latest technology in automation, machine-learning, big data and cybersecurity.

Business Media

Find the latest videos and media from the market leaders.

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital and print audiences? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • American City & County
  • IWCE
  • Light Reading
  • IOT World Today
  • Mission Critical Technologies
  • TU-Auto

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Events
  • Careers

FOLLOW Urgent Comms ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2023 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.