With a declining base of Nextel customers using frequencies in the 800 MHz band, existing cellular customers in the 1.9 GHz band, and new customers using Clearwire in the 2.5 GHz band, Sprint has announced it will embark on a multi-year plan to consolidate its technologies and spectrum into a single network. The changes have major implications for public safety agencies using push-to-talk Nextel service, which Sprint intends to phase out starting in 2013 and move to its 1.9 GHz cellular network with sub-second call set-up. Many agencies also use Sprint cellular service for mobile data laptops, which the company said would have improved coverage on the cellular or Clearwire networks. The company has awarded contracts to Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson and Samsung to implement its Network Vision, which will include multi-mode handsets, reallocation of Sprint’s assigned frequencies, and deployment of smaller and more efficient, multi-mode base stations. The company is now finalizing its implementation schedule, and the first network changes will begin in 2011, taking three to five years to complete. Read a press release on the plan here, their vision for push-to-talk services here (pdf), and their Network Vision info page.
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Back in the day a company I worked for (private patrol) had a bitchin 800mhz system that I spec’d. Nextel bought the license of our vendor causing us to replace the entire system at great expense. They did this all over the country–ruined the short use of 800mhz trunked for a lot of private businesses. Now, they’re turning the system off. Bah!
So Billions of dollars were, and still are, being waisted on Rebanding. Nextel should have been required to move to 700 MHz and let public safety keep their 800 MHz spectrum. Now public safety is split across both the 700 and 800 MHz bands, requiring the use of dual-band radios and interoperability solutions. Given this new revelation, rebanding should be put on immediate hold and re-evaluated.
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