800 MHz Re-Tuning Project Shows ‘Strong Progress’

In a report to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), cellular carrier Sprint Nextel said that it continues to make “strong progress” on the second phase of a massive project to retune public safety agencies which use the 800 MHz band for radio communications. Just seven regions remain incomplete for Phase I retuning, the company said, “significant” progress is being made on Canadian border area retuning, and over 40% of non-border agencies have completely retuned. The states of Wyoming and South Dakota are the first to finish retuning all public safety 800 MHz users, and Utah’s state-wide radio system is one of the largest systems to complete retuning. The project was initiated in 2004 by the FCC after a bold suggestion by Nextel co-founder Morgan O’Brien, and is intended to separate cellular and public safety 800 MHz frequency assignments, helping to prevent interference. Download (pdf) the 22-page Sprint Nextel report here.