FCC Fails on Motion to Halt NextWave Bankruptcy Proceedings
Hawthorne, New York, Jan. 24 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Communications Commission lost an attempt to halt NextWave Telecom Inc.'s bankruptcy case, NextWave said.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to grant the FCC's request for a stay in proceedings, rejecting a motion that claimed the agency has ``exclusive jurisdiction' over wireless telephone licenses NextWave won at auction.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Adlai S. Hardin Friday said he would defer ruling on whether Nextwave should be allowed to pay the remaining $4.3 billion it still owes on the licenses it offered to buy for $4.8 billion. A NextWave lawyer said her client is willing to pay cash for the balance it owes.
The FCC has contended the licenses were automatically cancelled in January 1999, after NextWave missed an interest payment on its debt to the FCC. Judge Hardin has asked the FCC to provide documents to show that the FCC had declared NextWave in default.
The FCC announced last week it would reauction NextWave's licenses in July. The commission acted to reclaim the licenses after a federal appeals court reversed Hardin's decision to reduce NextWave's obligation for the licenses to about $1 billion and ruled that the bankruptcy court ``had no authority' to intervene in the FCC's system for allocating spectrum licenses.
Jan/24/2000 20:41
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