News..........
Nextel Gets Day in Court on Radio Spectrum Consent Decree
Washington, March 17 (Bloomberg) -- Nextel Communications Inc. won the initial round in its bid to be excused from a consent decree limiting its cellular telephone holdings.
A federal judge ruled that Nextel was entitled to a full hearing to argue that the restrictions should be lifted so it can purchase 900-MHz spectrum for $150 million from Geotek Communications Inc.
Nextel wants more spectrum so it can provide more wireless voice and data services to customers, increasing the capacity of its network. Nextel, which competes against AT&T Corp. and Sprint PCS nationwide, said it is faced with restrictions that limit it to less spectrum than the other carriers are allowed to have.
Nextel agreed to the limits on 900-MHz spectrum ownership as a condition for its acquisition of Motorola, Inc.'s 800-Mhz two- way radio business. Nextel argues the limits are no longer needed because of changes in technology, regulation and business conditions it did not anticipate when it signed the consent decree.
''If Nextel's contentions are true, they would provide a sufficient basis for a finding that the consent decree is inequitable,'' wrote U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan. The judge rejected the U.S. Justice Department's request to summarily dismiss Nextel's request without a hearing.
Still, Hogan voiced skepticism about Nextel's claim that it did not foresee market changes that have taken place in the four years since it signed the decree. He quoted a 1994 letter Nextel's lawyer sent to the Justice Department predicting ''the market will undergo radical changes within the next five years in terms of new technology, increased spectrum availability and competition from new providers.''
Hogan added that it is not clear that ''Nextel anticipated the scope, impact and timing of the regulatory changes and technological developments that have taken place in the market.''
The McLean, Virginia-based cellular company purchased the 900-MHz spectrum at a bankruptcy auction with the condition it could end the arrangement if the court does not lift the consent decree. |
