Alaska Native, VoiceStream say NextWave is ineligible to hold licenses

WASHINGTON—Alaska Native Wireless L.L.C. and VoiceStream Wireless Corp. told the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday that agreements signed by NextWave Telecom Inc. in an effort to emerge from bankruptcy make NextWave ineligible to hold the C- and F-block licenses in question.
“The combination of NextWave’s second plan of reorganization (including the UBS Warburg transaction), NextWave’s new but undisclosed ownership structure, new but undisclosed Certificate of Incorporation, ongoing equity trading, and service and other agreements establish that NextWave no longer retains de facto control. Under existing commission precedent this will likely merit a denial of reinstatement,” said Alaska Native Wireless and VoiceStream Wireless.
“A petition was filed at the FCC by two companies who are anxious to block NextWave from using its licenses to offer new services and the benefits of competition to consumers. The petition contains nothing but obviously erroneous legal arguments and outright nutty allegations concerning financial arrangements NextWave has entered into as part of its bankruptcy reorganization. The FCC should not countenance attempts to use its regulatory processes to block competition,” said Michael Wack, NextWave senior vice president and deputy general counsel.
Alaska Native and VoiceStream have been the leaders of an effort to keep the licenses out of the hands of NextWave either by FCC action or settlement. Both companies were among the winners of the spectrum when the FCC re-auctioned the licenses earlier this year.
On June 22, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the FCC’s actions in canceling, re-allocating and re-auctioning NextWave’s licenses were unlawful. The court’s mandate that the FCC give back the licenses became effective on Thursday after the D.C. Circuit rejected a move by the government to “stay the mandate” pending its appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.