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News & Events
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Press Releases
For Immediate Release
800 MHz Transition Administrator, L.L.C
c/o Squire, Sanders & Dempsey L.L.P.
8000 Towers Crescent Drive, 14th Floor
Tyson's Corner, VA 22182-2700 |
Contact: Nikki Diamantes
Phone: (703) 747-4386
E-mail: comments@800TA.org |
800 MHz Reconfiguration Planning Funding Fast Track Option
Details Now Available
June 15, 2006, Washington, D.C. - As a follow up to the May 23, 2006 joint announcement by the 800 MHz Transition
Administrator, LLC ("TA"), Public Safety leadership, and Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) regarding the new Planning Funding Agreement (PFA)
Fast Track Option for licensees seeking to obtain planning funding, the TA has published on its website www.800TA.org, a PFA Fast Track
Fact Sheet, updated Request for Planning Funding (RFPF) Instructions, and RFPF Template (version 2.6). Going forward, all RFPFs
submissions AFTER June 19, 2006 must use Form version 2.6 or later available on the TA website at
http://www.800ta.org/content/documents/rfpf_forms.asp
As previously noted, the TA estimates that more than half of the licensee population requiring planning funding will be able to use
the Fast Track Option, which provides a means for licensees and Sprint Nextel to streamline their efforts to execute a PFA. "The PFA
Fast Track Option expedites the planning funding process, and provides licensees more runway time to reach a Frequency Reconfiguration
Agreement (FRA) and prepare for the actual retuning process," said Brett Haan, Director of the TA.
Licensees with more complex needs will also benefit, as the Fast Track Option will free up Sprint Nextel and TA resources to focus on
unique licensee situations and requirements. Additionally, licensees' rights and obligations, including the requirement to certify that
their costs are the "minimum necessary" to provide facilities comparable to those presently in use, remain the same under the Fast Track
Option and are subject to the TA's true-up process at the end of reconfiguration.
Fast Track does not require anything different when submitting your RFPF. Rather, it allows licensees, whose RFPF submissions meet certain
guidelines, to secure planning funding faster.
To qualify for the Fast Track Option, licensees should meet the following conditions:
- A reasonably accurate subscriber unit count
- Total planning funding request equating to $55 or less per subscriber unit
- Legal costs of 8% or less of the total request
- Project management costs of 25% or less of the total request
If all of these guidelines are met, and the TA has approved the submission for conformance with program guidelines (including that the
costs are reasonable and prudent expenses directly related to the retuning of an 800 MHz system), Sprint Nextel will incorporate it
into a PFA.
If, for any reason, a licensee requires planning funding that exceeds the $55 threshold or the RFPF submission does not qualify for Fast
Track, the RFPF will follow the standard 60-day negotiation process, followed by mediation, if required.
To obtain additional information on the overall reconfiguration process and specific instructions for completing an RFPF, please visit
the TA's website at www.800TA.org.
About the 800 MHz Transition Administrator, LLC
800 MHz Transition Administrator, LLC ("TA LLC") is the Transition Administrator ("TA") for the
reconfiguration of the 800 MHz band mandated by the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC").
TA LLC has contracted with BearingPoint, Inc., Squire, Sanders & Dempsey L.L.P. and Baseline
Telecom, Inc. to perform the duties of the TA. Among its duties, the TA establishes reconfiguration
guidelines, specifies replacement channels, reviews reconfiguration cost estimates, monitors payment of
reconfiguration costs, manages the relocation schedule, facilitates issue resolution and administers the
alternative dispute resolution process. TA LLC uses information it receives solely for the purposes of
administering the 800 MHz reconfiguration process and may disclose such information to the FCC or
other authorized parties pursuant to the requirements of the 800 MHz Order or other applicable laws.
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