The FCC order is designed to “reshuffle the deck” to prevent interference from occurring, so many licensees nationwide will have to move. If you operate in the current NPSPAC band (866-869/821-824 MHz) will be required to move “down” 15 MHz, and every licensee in the first 150 channels of the General Category Pool (851-853.9875/806-808.9875 MHz) will move “up” to the “middle” bands (854.0125-861.9875/809.0125-816.9875 MHz) to clear the way for public safety licensees. Licensees in the “middle” bands can stay where they are. Please note that the rebanding plan for the Canadian and Mexican Border Regions has not yet been negotiated with the respective neighboring governments. Click here to find out more about the new 800 MHz band plan.

While public safety licensees have the option of moving out of the Expansion Band (other licensees do not) all licensees in the Expansion Band receive the exact same interference protection as licensees on frequencies below 815/860 MHz. The interference protection rules provide less protection for operations at 816/861.3 MHz and up. (Please note that the Expansion Band is different in the Southeastern part of the United States, in those markets where SouthernLinc has operations as 812/857.5 to 813/858.5 MHz)

A few of the oldest radios will have to be replaced, but most radios can be recrystalized or reprogrammed to your new frequencies. If some of your radios must be replaced, you will receive replacements (usually professionally reconditioned units) or the money to replace them yourself. However, be aware that as of this time there is no agreement between Nextel, the Transition Administrator and the various manufacturers as to which radios must be replaced, and this issue is presently being discussed. Motorola has recently created an 800 MHz information web site, which includes a listing of Motorola radios which must be replaced, and which may be reprogrammed. All Motorola radios operating on NPSPAC frequencies will, at a minimum, require new software. See Motorola's presentation on which radios will need replacing here. Certain M/A-Com radios that have been operating on NPSPAC frequencies will also have to be replaced.

While it is certainly true that a number of licensees have estimated their costs to be $40 per radio, there is nothing in the FCC's Rules, or the Transition Administrator's guidelines, that sets a maximum fee for any part of this process. Rather, consideration must be given to the circumstances at hand. Are these portable radios, which do not require software upgrades, that can be easily delivered to the place where work will be performed in a market where the labor rate is fairly low? If so, $40 may be an entirely appropriate fee. In other cases, situations where mobiles must be removed from vehicles, radios requiring software upgrades, necessary travel to locations where mobiles are moved at stationary locations, etc. may dictate different cost estimates. Here's where the value of experienced negotiators can be of tremendous assistance to you, at no cost to you.

Nextel has successfully retuned some of the largest, most complicated radio systems in the country, including large, multi-agency county and regional public safety systems, regional SMR providers, and the country’s largest electric utilities (although this will be a first in moving NPSPAC frequencies down to the old General Category channels). While large systems add significant complexity, any system can be retuned. This is not to make it sound as if the process is easy. Rather, it is complicated for large systems, and cannot be haphazardly performed. Further, public safety agencies with interoperability agreements with neighboring jurisdictions will need to plan their retunes carefully to ensure no downtime. Thus, if you have a large, complex system, it is important that you have sound professional and technical advice.