As previously covered in RF Report, the FCC requires Sprint and broadcasters to clear the 1990 to 2025 MHz (2 GHz) broadcast auxiliary spectrum next year. The original deadline for 2 GHz relocation was last fall. When the FCC extended the deadline, it required Sprint provide bi-monthly reports on the status of the transition.
The first of these reports was due this week, on April 1. In its progress report, Sprint lists the progress by region, by market and by individual station. The report includes the status of inventories submitted, inventories verified, quote packages submitted to Sprint, quote packages approved, frequency relocation agreements executed, purchase orders submitted, equipment delivered, equipment installed, DMA relocation, and contracts closed.
The report states all inventories have been verified and 93 percent of the quote packages have been submitted to Sprint. Sprint has approved 87 percent of the quote packages and 69 percent of the purchase orders have been submitted. However, only 21 percent of the stations have received all of their equipment and only 13 percent of the stations have installed it.
The same categories are tracked down to the station level. Appendix A of the report lists stations by call letters. If you are wondering how other stations in your market are progressing with the 2 GHz relocation, the report should give you the answer. One caution—while a link to the report appears on Sprint’s www.2ghzrelocation.com Web site, attempts to retrieve it Thursday and Friday returned a server message stating the link was down.
