By Teresa von Fuchs
WirelessWeek - November 19, 2007

The FCC is threatening to shut down parts of Sprint Nextel’s network, if the company doesn’t address issues with its network interfering with public safety radios.

Many police and fire departments radios share the same swath of spectrum used by Nextel, which has caused problems for more than 2,200 public safety agencies across the country. Nextel had taken on the “rebanding” project to try and resolve these issues, agreeing to give up one swath of radio waves and help affected public safety agencies across the country to modify their radio systems. When it agreed to the rebanding deal, Nextel was given access to a new stretch of valuable spectrum.

When Sprint acquired Nextel in 2005, it also acquired Nextel’s rebanding agreement with less than two years left to fix the issues.

Although the now combined Sprint Nextel has said it has spent over $1 billion so far on the effort, it is not on track to meet the FCC’s deadline for the project. The company has said that the project “has proved more difficult” than it originally expected.

The FCC, in its effort to tighten the screws on the carrier, has threatened to shut down portions of network needed for its Nextel and Boost Mobile customers. The carrier estimates those parts of the network serve nearly 20 million subscribers.

Sprint has said that it is has been making an extraordinary effort to finish the rebanding project on time, but it is also seeking help from the U.S. Court of Appeals to avoid the regulars threat of a shutdown.

Public safety officials have been complaining since early this year that they have seen little to no progress on the interference issues, though the deadline for completion of the project is fast approaching.