Tom, with QUALCOMM declining to put $300 million into the creditors' accounts, it's back to the drawing board for Hollings and co. It seems that some people think that QUALCOMM refusing to put in the money is a vote of no confidence in NextWave. That's not true. Until the spectrum ownership is resolved, it's not sensible to put more money in, which will only end up in creditors' pockets.
The essential problem is one of envy as shown by Powell's comments, which like so many others, show that they think the government has some sort of inherent right to the value of the spectrum at any particular time. The government illegally cobbled together some bidders to establish a new, high, benchmark for the spectrum value.
Maybe an auction today wouldn't get that price and the Hollings is going to get a surprise. He thinks that if it was a good deal last month, it'll be a good deal now and he'll be able to get his greedy paws on the loot.
Fortunately, the courts don't just toady to the greedy government officials but make a point of protecting property rights according to law, which is the main underlying strength of the USA. Toss that aside too casually and the USA competitive advantage will soon wane.
Powell: <... I’m not one that was particularly thrilled that [NextWave was] going to get money either, but I couldn’t let that blind me to the bigger public interest of getting the spectrum into the market, something we just talked about, and getting the government its money.>
He's disappointed that NextWave was going to make heaps. Envy! Allen Salmasi and QUALCOMM are the ones who made spectrum valuable by enabling a huge volume of calls per megahertz, so if anyone deserves the money, it's the creators of CDMA, not some government bureaucrats who want a windfall to capture the money QUALCOMM left on the table when undercharging on royalties for their great invention.
If Powell and Hollings would stop whining about them not getting somebody else's money and get the litigation and spectrum sorted out and issued to NextWave so that more money can be put into the company and service provided across the USA, the public would be better off. At least Powell understands that the USA citizens are not well-served by having a decade of legal mess rather than CDMA wireless services.
Powell should cancel the litigation and accept their place in the creditors' line. The legal position seems fairly clear. Hollings and Powell should get something more useful to do than filibustering progress in the hopes of getting his greedy paws on NextWave's creditors' money.
Mq |
