Reuters -- NextWave Wireless Settlement Stalled
November 10, 2001
NextWave Wireless Settlement Stalled
By REUTERS
Filed at 7:36 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An agreement
between bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc.
(NXLC.PK) and the federal government over
wireless licenses, which the company recently
said was at hand, has been stalled, the
Washington Post (news/quote) reported on
Saturday.
The company told a bankruptcy court on
Thursday that it had agreed to return its wireless licenses as part of a $16 billion
settlement between the government and several of the nation's largest wireless
companies.
But the Post said despite round-the-clock meetings there is still no signed deal,
and it cited sources close to the talks as saying negotiations are expected to
stretch into next week, at least.
The agreement has been complicated by the competing interests of several
government agencies, NextWave's investors and companies including Verizon
Wireless (VX.N)(VOD.L), Cingular Wireless (BLS.N)(SBC.N) and AT&T
Wireless Services Inc. (AWE.N), the Post said.
The complex deal would result in NextWave collecting about $5 billion from the
settlement and the government getting about $11 billion, the newspaper reported.
The goal of the deal, the Post noted, is to resolve a six-year controversy over a
huge slice of airwaves controlled by NextWave. The company bid $4.7 billion for
the licenses at a 1996 auction but failed to come up with the money to pay for
them, the paper reported.
The deal has been delayed by disagreement over details including the dates when
the money will be paid and the licenses will change hands, but Congressional
staffers have also expressed concern about its terms, the Post said.
The newspaper quoted one staffer as saying the proposed agreement protects the
interests of wireless companies but appears to hand a windfall to a troubled
company that has never served a single customer.
Copyright 2001 Reuters Ltd. |
