Sprint Nextel has announced that 30 percent of the TV Broadcast Auxiliary Service (BAS) licensees eligible for the 2GHz relocation project have entered into contracts clearing the way to update their analog ENG infrastructure to digital.
Under the existing FCC deadline, TV BAS licensees and Sprint Nextel have until Sept. 7 to complete a relocation of operations from BAS channel 1-7 to 12MHz-wide digital channels between 2025MHz-2110MHz. In the spring, Sprint Nextel told the commission in a status report on the project that it would need an additional 12 to 24 months to complete the project. The company has said it will make a formal request to the commission for an extension of the deadline this summer.
With the latest announcement, 30 percent of BAS licensees have completed frequency relocation agreements (FRAs), a critical step on the path to relocation. As of NAB2007, the figure stood at 26 percent with only 3 percent of eligible BAS licensees finished with the installation of all of their new microwave equipment.
Among the latest group of stations to enter into FRAs are KUED-TV in Salt Lake City; KCNC-TV in Denver; KRDO-TV in Colorado Springs-Pueblo, CO; WNBC-TV in New York City; and KFWN-TV in Cheyenne, WY.
For more information, visit www.2ghzrelocation.com.
