Washington ? Nextel Communications Inc. agreed Monday to a plan by federal regulators aimed at ending the interference from Nextel cell phones that disrupts public safety communication systems in hundreds of communities.

The Federal Communications Commission will give Reston, Va.-based Nextel a new piece of broadcast spectrum in return for the company vacating other spectrum and paying to reconfigure the airwaves it currently occupies.

The multibillion-dollar agreement is the end of a yearslong process aimed at eliminating cell phone interference that in some cases leaves police, fire and other emergency personnel unable to communicate.

There have been no reports that such interference caused injuries or deaths, though public safety officials have said personnel were endangered whenever they responded to a call and could not communicate.

“This has, indeed, been the most difficult, complex and challenging issue I have faced in seven years at the commission,” FCC Chairman Michael Powell said. “It is gratifying on so many levels to see the plan coming to life.”

Powell was joined at a news conference by Nextel President Tim Donahue, who called the agreement “simply the right thing to do for first responders, homeland security and for Nextel.”

Donahue said the transition would begin immediately and should be completed in three years. The company’s planned merger with Overland Park-based Sprint Corp. won’t affect the deal.

Radios used by police, firefighters and other first responders broadcast on the same 800-megahertz spectrum as Nextel cell phones. Under the agreement, Nextel will give up spectrum in the 800 band in exchange for new valuable spectrum in the 1.9-gigahertz range, where other major wireless carriers operate.

The commission has valued the spectrum being returned at $1.6 billion, but Nextel contended it was worth more. The FCC reworked the deal in December to increase the spectrum’s value to $2 billion.