NextWave, Nextel Put on Hold Their Dispute Over Spectrum Buy
NextWave, Nextel Put on Hold Their Dispute Over Spectrum Buy
Hawthorne, New York, Aug. 18 (Bloomberg) -- NextWave Telecom
Inc., a bankrupt telecommunications company, and Nextel
Communications Inc. have put on hold a dispute over Nextel's plans to
pursue the purchase of radio spectrum that NextWave won at auction,
a NextWave attorney said.
Nextel has agreed to halt moves to buy the bandwidth in bankruptcy
proceedings, said NextWave bankruptcy attorney Deborah
Schrier-Rape. NextWave on Friday secured an order in U.S.
Bankruptcy Court temporarily barring Nextel from purchasing the
spectrum to augment its wireless services. ``Right now, Nextel and
NextWave are not litigating with each other,' Schrier-Rape said.
The companies' agreement heads off an Aug. 25 hearing in U.S.
Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, New York on NextWave's motion for
a permanent injunction against Nextel, Schrier-Rape said. Officials at
Nextel weren't immediately available for comment.
Last week, Nextel said it had received approval to pursue the
purchase of the spectrum at issue from the U.S. Federal
Communications Commission and the Justice Department. In seeking
its temporary restraining order last week, NextWave argued that
Nextel's talk of buying the spectrum interfered with its exclusive right to
file a bankruptcy reorganization plan.
NextWave bid about $4.8 billion for the spectrum in 1996, though it's
only paid about $500 million toward the purchase price, which a judge
reduced to just over $1 billion.
Reston, Virginia-based Nextel, which is controlled in part by cellular
pioneer Craig McCaw, could use the spectrum to offer advanced
services, such as high-speed wireless Internet access.
A confirmation hearing on NextWave's plan to exit bankruptcy
proceedings is scheduled for Sept. 8, Schrier-Rape said.
Reduced Payment
Separately, U.S. District Judge Denny Chin in Manhattan yesterday
denied a request by the FCC to postpone implementation of an earlier
ruling that reduced NextWave's payment to the Federal
Communications Commission for the spectrum, Schrier-Rape said.
Officials at the FCC, NextWave's biggest creditor, weren't
immediately available for comment.
Last Thursday, Hawthorne, New York-based NextWave said that if its
bankruptcy plan is approved by the court, its licenses will be paid for in
full and ``placed into productive use very rapidly.' NextWave would
then begin selling wireless capacity to other carriers, including Nextel,
it said.
Nextel shares, which have more than doubled this year so far this year,
fell 2 5/16 to 57 5/16. |
