Beginning in early 2000, several public safety agencies using 800 MHz trunked radio systems discovered that mobile communications were sometimes disrupted--a mobile or or portable radio could not receive or transmit in certain geographic areas. The cause of the interference was initially mystifying--there seemed to be no problem with the trunked systems or their coverage area. updated 7/11/06

In Nov. 2001 Nextel filed a White Paper with the FCC proposing a wide-scale reorganization of the existing 800 MHz frequency allocations in order to reduce or eliminate interference in the band.

Then in August 2002 a group of several organizations (including Nextel itself) submitted an alternate proposal, which came to be called the "Consensus Proposal." On Sept. 9, 2002 the FCC formally requested comments on the proposal, and on Dec. 24, 2002 the Consensus Parties submitted a supplement to their original comments to the FCC.

Here is the major actions on the Consensus Proposal, downloadable in Acrobat (pdf) format:

The following agencies submitted the plan:

• Aeronautical Radio, Inc. (ARINC)
• The American Mobile Telecommunications Association (AMTA)
• The American Petroleum Institute (API)
• The Association of American Railroads (AAR)
• The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International, Inc.(APCO)
• The Forest Industries Telecommunications (FIT)
• The Industrial Telecommunications Association, Inc. (ITA)
• The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP)
• The International Association of Fire Chiefs, Inc. (IAFC) and Internationa
• Municipal Signal Association (IMSA)
• The Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCC)
• The Major County Sheriffs™ Association (MCSA)
• The National Sheriffs™ Association (NSA)
• Nextel Communications, Inc.
• The Personal Communications Industry Association (PCIA)
• The Taxicab, Limousine and Paratransit Association (TLPA)