According to Sprint Nextel, 33 percent of TV BAS licensees eligible for the relocation project have signed frequency relocation agreements (FRAs).
The company and BAS licensees currently face a Sept. 7 FCC-imposed deadline to complete the 2GHz relocation. The announcement with three months to go underscores the improbability of completing the project on time, and the company has said it would formally ask the commission for an extension of one to two years sometime this summer.
When the project is complete, BAS licensees that formerly used a swath of the RF band between 1990MHz-2110MHz for analog ENG shots and other events like sports will be reassigned to 12MHz-wide digital channels between 2025MHz-2110MHz.
FRAs are an important step on the path to completing the relocation project, but they are only advancements toward the final step, which is the replacement of existing analog radios, antennas and systems with new digital equipment. As of NAB2007, only 3 percent of those licensees eligible for the relocation project had installed all of their new microwave equipment.
For more information, visit www.2ghzrelocation.com.