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800 MHz debate rages on and on Page 3 of 3 success. (Please refer to Denver's engineering consultant's presentation on the APCO web site for further information.) If what the cellular operators are proposing is so wonderful, why have the Cellular A operators in Denver, Anne Arundel County, Md., Orange County, Calif, and other locations been unable to resolve their interference issues after more than three years of effort? The fact is, "best practices" are at best a temporary bandage because they fail to correct the underlying causes ofpublic-safety interference in the 800 MHz band. The suggestion that the CTIA/UTC approach is a "proactive" solution is simply not credible. Areas of interference cannot be predicted with any kind of certainty -where are the engineers who will tell you that the Balanced Approach can do that? Adopting this approach will place officers' lives at risk, as they will experience unresolved or new areas of interference when they need communications most. Remember, as cellular companies continue to build out their sites, and use lower and lower sites, this problem will only grow. Moreover, as Cellular A carriers replace their analog service with broadband technology, interference to public-safety operators using the NPSPAC channels will worsen; yet, broadband architectures preclude using the best-practices tool of taking out a channel or two to prevent an intetmodulation "hit." In other words, interference that can be mitigated today - at least temporarily -will be irreparable in the not-too-distant future. While I might accept the notion that the Consensus Plan isn't the most wonderful thing since sliced bread, I can tell you it isn't one-sided, as it was the result of negotiations to reach a fair compromise for all parties. I also can tell you that the Balanced Approach plan only benefits Nextel's competitors as well as private radio attorneys who will get to spend the rest of their billable days at the FCC arguing over whether there is interference at a particular location, and which carrier or carriers caused it. At the end of the day, that doesn't serve the public interest. Editor's Note: Alan Tilles is counsel to numerous entities in the private radio, Internet and entertainment industries. He is a partner in the law firm of Shulman Rogers Gandal Pordy & Ecker, and can be reached at atilles(a)srgpe.c~m. © 2004, Primedia Business Magazines and Media, a PRIM EDIA company. All rights reserved. This article is protected by United States copyright and other intellectual property laws and may not be reproduced, rewritten, distributed, redisseminated, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast, directly or indirectly, in any medium without the prior written permission of PRIMEDIA Business Corp. ®2004 Primedia Business Magazines antl Media. All Rights Reserved. For Search Partners Contact Us For Atl http://iwce-mrt.com/microsites/magazinearticle.asp?mode=print&magazinearticleid=190329... 6/23/04