Completion of the ongoing 2GHz TV Broadcast Auxiliary Service (BAS) relocation project is central to widespread use of HD ENG.
On March 7, Sprint Nextel submitted a report to the FCC on the progress of its efforts to relocate BAS operations to 12MHz-wide digital channels between 2025MHz and 2110MHz.
The report, which concluded by asking the commission for a 12 to 24 month extension on the September 2007 deadline to complete the project, sheds light on the scope of the effort.
Among the statistics in the report were:
- There are about 1000 BAS license holders affected by the relocation;
- To date, two markets — Yuma, AZ, and Lima, OH — have completed the transition;
- All eligible BAS licensees "are now engaged" in the process;
- Sprint Nextel has verified the equipment inventories of 80 percent of licensees;
- The company has completed "individualized template contracts" will all major groups, which account for 65 percent of BAS licensees;
- Sprint Nextel has spent more than $186 million to create an inventory of new digital microwave radios and antennas;
- The company has funded the production of more than 6000 transmitters and receivers, 4000 controllers, 2000 antennas and antenna upgrades to date;
- Sprint Nextel has completed 22 percent of all Frequency Relocation Agreements (FRA);
- Each FRA averages 35 pages with two seven-page amendments;
- When considered together, FRAs will account for about 50,000 pages when the project is finished; if stacked on top of each other, the FRAs would create a stack nearly two stories high.
To learn more about the status of the relocation project, read: "Sprint Nextel requests FCC extension of 2GHz BAS relocation deadline."
