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Technology Stocks : Nextwave Telecom Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jon Koplik who wrote (566)	11/10/2001 10:38:18 AM
From: Jon Koplik	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1088

Washington Post -- NextWave Licensing Deal Stalled Over Dates, Legislation Saturday, November 10, 2001 NextWave Licensing Deal Stalled Over Dates, Legislation By Christopher Stern Washington Post Staff Writer On Thursday morning, lawyers for NextWave Telecom Inc. told a federal bankruptcy court judge that the company had agreed to return its airwave licenses as part of a $16 billion settlement between the government and several of the nation's largest wireless companies. It turns out the declaration was a little premature. Despite round-the-clock meetings, there is still no signed deal, and sources close to the talks say they expect negotiations to stretch into next week -- at least. In addition to ongoing quarrels over a complex 27-page settlement agreement, there is also wrangling over proposed legislation that must become law for the deal to be finalized. The agreement has been complicated by the competing interests of several government agencies, NextWave's investors and companies including Verizon Wireless, Cingular Wireless and AT&T Wireless. The goal of the deal 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. Verizon Wireless and other companies have agreed to pay a total of $15.8 billion for the wireless licenses if the ownership dispute can be resolved. The complex deal would result in NextWave collecting about $5 billion from the settlement and the government booking about $11 billion. By all accounts, a final deal has been delayed by disagreements over details, including the dates on which the money will be paid and the licenses change hands. "We are on the two-inch line; we just have to fall forward," said one source using a football analogy. But just as the agreement appeared to be edging closer to finality, a new source of trouble appeared last week. Congressional staffers who were briefed on the agreement for the first time last week expressed concern about its terms. The legislation calls for Congress to approve a $9.55 billion payment to NextWave but immediately get at least $3 billion of that money back in taxes. Other taxes would kick in later. One staffer who attended the briefing, held just hours after Thursday's court hearing, said the settlement appeared to be a "Rube Goldberg" device that protects the interests of wireless companies but does little to protect members of Congress from potential criticism of a deal that hands a windfall to a troubled company that has never served a single customer. Congressional staffers also expressed concern that the agreement could open the door to demands from other companies that, like NextWave, have bid for airwaves but could not pay for them. Unlike NextWave, some of the other companies handed their licenses back to the government after failing to produce the money to cover their bids. A Federal Communications Commission official who conducted the 45-minute briefing acknowledged that such legal challenges from former license-holders were a possible fallout of the proposed agreement, according to a congressional staffer who attended the meeting. An FCC spokesman said the agency does not comment on its confidential discussions with Congress. © 2001 The Washington Post Company