Sprint Nextel signs with Tribune, Hearst-Argyle

SPRINT NEXTEL SIGNS WITH TRIBUNE, HEARST-ARGYLE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Glen Dickson]
Sprint Nextel has made fresh progress in moving broadcasters off spectrum the wireless carrier has secured for its future use, reaching "Frequency Relocation Agreements" with Tribune station WGN Chicago and Hearst-Argyle station WESH-Orlando on how they will be reimbursed for new digital microwave gear. The process, known as “2 GHz Relocation,” is the result of a $4.8 billion agreement the FCC brokered with Sprint Nextel in February 2005. The deal moves some of Sprint Nextel’s operations out of the 800 megahertz (MHz) frequency band, where its signals were interfering with public-safety communications, and into part of the 2 gigahertz (GHz) band, which broadcasters use to send both live and taped feeds from their trucks to the station. Broadcasters will move off existing ENG channels and use new digital microwave gear to continue operations in a smaller slice of microwave spectrum. Sprint Nextel must spend roughly $500 million on the digital ENG gear. It will give back spectrum valued at $2.1 billion and also write the federal government a check for $2.2 billion. The FCC has set a deadline of September 2007 for completion of the nationwide project.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6371890?display=Breaking+News