BAS Spectrum Transition Completed in Los Angeles Market Cluster
108 Transitioned Markets Serve More Than 160 Million People.
OVERLAND PARK, Kan.-- Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) announced a major milestone in the relocation of Broadcast Auxiliary Service (BAS) facilities from the 1990-2025 MHz spectrum band with the completed relocation of the Los Angeles market cluster, which contains the most news-gathering equipment in the nation. The Los Angeles market cluster, which includes the Los Angeles, San Diego, Palm Springs and Santa Barbara television markets, completed the transition on June 6, and involved almost 200 mobile news-gathering trucks, 14 helicopters and more than 175 reception sites across the area. Overall, the BAS transition is now complete in 108 markets covering a population of approximately 160 million people across the nation.
“Given the sheer size and complexity of the Los Angeles-area transition, this is a major accomplishment in the project and continues the transition progress realized during the first half of 2009,” said Michael Degitz, vice president of Spectrum Management for Sprint. “Working together, market by market, station by station, Sprint and the broadcast community continue to make major progress toward completing the nationwide clearing of fixed and mobile BAS systems below 2025 MHz.”
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has licensed Sprint to use a portion of the 2 GHz spectrum that broadcasters currently use to send and receive news from the field. Sprint and two satellite companies that also will receive BAS spectrum are responsible for paying for new equipment and reimbursing broadcasters for the costs of moving to their new spectrum. To facilitate the transition, Sprint and the broadcasters are working with equipment vendors and contractors to design, build and install new BAS equipment such as transmitters, receivers and antennas before broadcasters switch operations to their new spectrum. In total, the transition involves more than a thousand BAS licensees across the country – many with older, complicated and highly customized systems that make the transition extremely complex.
The BAS transition continues to move forward despite these challenges – 51 percent of all TV markets are now transitioned, with viewers enjoying the enhanced video experience made possible by state-of-the art digital newsgathering facilities. Eighty-eight percent of the total BAS equipment has been delivered to stations and 75 percent of all BAS operators in the U.S. have received all of the elements of BAS systems that they need to relocate. In addition, 61 percent of broadcasters have already installed the new equipment that they have ordered.
For more information on the 2GHz transition, go to www.2GHzRelocation.com.
About Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two wireless networks serving more than 49 million customers at the end of the first quarter of 2009; industry-leading mobile data services; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. For more information, visit www.sprint.com.
OVERLAND PARK, Kan.-- Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) announced a major milestone in the relocation of Broadcast Auxiliary Service (BAS) facilities from the 1990-2025 MHz spectrum band with the completed relocation of the Los Angeles market cluster, which contains the most news-gathering equipment in the nation. The Los Angeles market cluster, which includes the Los Angeles, San Diego, Palm Springs and Santa Barbara television markets, completed the transition on June 6, and involved almost 200 mobile news-gathering trucks, 14 helicopters and more than 175 reception sites across the area. Overall, the BAS transition is now complete in 108 markets covering a population of approximately 160 million people across the nation.
“Given the sheer size and complexity of the Los Angeles-area transition, this is a major accomplishment in the project and continues the transition progress realized during the first half of 2009,” said Michael Degitz, vice president of Spectrum Management for Sprint. “Working together, market by market, station by station, Sprint and the broadcast community continue to make major progress toward completing the nationwide clearing of fixed and mobile BAS systems below 2025 MHz.”
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has licensed Sprint to use a portion of the 2 GHz spectrum that broadcasters currently use to send and receive news from the field. Sprint and two satellite companies that also will receive BAS spectrum are responsible for paying for new equipment and reimbursing broadcasters for the costs of moving to their new spectrum. To facilitate the transition, Sprint and the broadcasters are working with equipment vendors and contractors to design, build and install new BAS equipment such as transmitters, receivers and antennas before broadcasters switch operations to their new spectrum. In total, the transition involves more than a thousand BAS licensees across the country – many with older, complicated and highly customized systems that make the transition extremely complex.
The BAS transition continues to move forward despite these challenges – 51 percent of all TV markets are now transitioned, with viewers enjoying the enhanced video experience made possible by state-of-the art digital newsgathering facilities. Eighty-eight percent of the total BAS equipment has been delivered to stations and 75 percent of all BAS operators in the U.S. have received all of the elements of BAS systems that they need to relocate. In addition, 61 percent of broadcasters have already installed the new equipment that they have ordered.
For more information on the 2GHz transition, go to www.2GHzRelocation.com.
About Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two wireless networks serving more than 49 million customers at the end of the first quarter of 2009; industry-leading mobile data services; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. For more information, visit www.sprint.com.
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