<Nextwave almost scammed the tax payers of billions of dollars by claiming ignorance to a sympathetic judge. Fortunately, smarter heads prevailed.
Anyone know why Qualcomm didn't save Nextwave>
Ron, you are factually incorrect and accusing companies of scams on the basis of incorrect information could leave you liable to libel. NextWave Telecom didn't claim ignorance and didn't find 'sympathetic judges'. NexWave Telecom was not given the licenses as offered and paid for as agreed in the auction process and then their financial backers took fright at low later bids and stopped further support, leading to lack of money.
I don't recall any claims of ignorance. Do have any references for that apparently unfounded claim?
The essential problem was the government set up a very stupid scheme which was sexist, racist and biased against big companies, with naive auction rules [which enabled many bidders to default without any payments - NextWave paid before payments were due then the FCC wouldn't issue the licenses in a timely manner]. No wonder it went awry.
It's a bit like the shambles in California. The idiotic 'deregulation' on 1996, which left the prices regulated, has led to the current emergency. If prices are regulated, it is not a deregulation. If people are not allowed to make huge profits, investment will be minimal. The power shortage could be cured overnight by allowing everyone to charge anything they like for electricity.
Prices would rapidly rise and people would start switching things off. The shortage of electricity would disappear overnight.
But Cargo-Cult politicians and voters, who have little idea how economics works, think that the old USSR central planning process is the way to supply electricity to the most economically important region on the planet.
Here we are in the 21st century and living in the stone-age economic system of kleptomania.
Plus ca change,
Mqurice
PS: I am not aware of any illegality in Globalstar and the idea of fraudulent conveyance seems absurd to me. The laws which were broken were the laws of nature, the primary one of which is "Thou shalt not have silly ideas". Globalstar though they could charge $3 a minute. Duh! Then persevered with that idea for a full year when it was obvious [to me] a few years ago that anything over $1 was sure to be a shambles.
They were greedy and stupid. But "greedy and stupid" is not illegal. I'm guilty of the second part and I don't believe I've committed a crime other than against that fundamental law of nature. My crime was to think that the marketing people would react to bad news and maybe try doing something different. There were warnings of obstinacy and obdurate attitudes which are NOT good indicators of flexible minds. But I thought those were just the usual human foibles ... nope, they have determination, which is the flip side of stubborn and stupid. Determination without brains is how donkeys work.
My hope is now that Blackstone will beat them all around the head with some reality tv, grind the bond holders, Vodafone, Loral into submission, dilute the GlobalstarLP shareholders heavily and set a new price per minute of 20c with 10c a minute to Globalstar LP. Bond holders get shares instead of debt. The exclusivity agreements, management agreements etc get a good reaming out. |
