SPRINT GETS EXTRA SIX MONTHS TO SETTLE UP ON 800 MHZ REBANDING

摘要

The FCC put off until year-end the "true-up" date for figuring how much Sprint Nextel owes the government beyond what it has spent on the 800 MHz rebanding. The calculation was to have been made July 1. That would have required Sprint to report the cost of the rebanding in progress and possibly make an "anti-windfall" payment to the Treasury while its costs continued to mount. Further delays are possible. The order, handed down under the authority of acting Public Safety Bureau Chief David Furth, instructs the 800 MHz Transition Administrator to file a report by Nov. 2 on whether additional time is called for. nnThe administrator recommended the Dec. 31 date in a May report to the FCC. When the commission approved its landmark 800 MHz rebanding order in July 2004, it set at $4.8 billion the value of the 10 MHz national license that Nextel got in return for surrendered spectrum. The commission set the value of spectrum that Nextel had agreed to contribute at $2 billion. That left $2.8 billion in costs for Nextel, later taken over by Sprint. That amount was expected to be largely offset by its rebanding costs. Sprint estimates its costs will be as high as $3.4 billion.