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Mar. 9, 2008

On March 5th, a federal appeals court in Washington granted a request by Sprint Nextel to maintain the FCC’s 8-hour backup power regulations.

The stay was required while the court reviews an appeal submitted by several carriers and CTIA.

In light of all the devastation of Hurricane Katrina across the Gulf Coast almost three years ago, the Federal Communications Commission issued a mandate that most mobile phone sites in the U.S. have at least eight hours of backup power for use in emergencies.

However, the wireless industry has appealed the FCC’s requirements, saying that while its intentions are good, issues still remain about the overall costs involved and the whole viability of the plan.

It also said there are still issues remaining with the legality of the FCC’s ruling that need to be worked out among the various industry members.

The CTIA has also said that the order is “costly and in some cases impossible to implement.”

Sprint Nextel wrote that complying with the order would do “staggering and irreparable harm” to the company financially. And PCIA said the industry should be allowed to decide how best to keep its networks running.

However, the FCC responded that the need for sufficient emergency backup power to cell sites outweighed the carriers’ complaints of cost. But the commission gave carriers six months to submit reports of impossible mobile phone sites to upgrade and then the FCC would possibly grant exemptions.

The FCC said it was very disappointed with the court’s decision. Oral arguments for the appeals case are scheduled in two months, around May 15.

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Source: The CTIA.

    This article was featured on Business 5.0.

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