WASHINGTON—Representatives of bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc. and re-auction winners of NextWave’s PCS C- and F-block licenses are set to meet on Tuesday afternoon in the offices of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, to restart settlement negotiations, according to several industry sources.
The meeting is thought to be preliminary with many insiders less than optimistic about its results.
If a settlement is reached, Stevens is seen as key to getting the support of Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-S.C.), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee. It was Hollings’ opposition last fall to a negotiated settlement between the government, NextWave and the re-auction winners that torpedoed that deal. The terms of the deal, which expired Dec. 31, had the re-auction winners paying their original bid amounts of $15.85 billion to the government after the government paid NextWave $5.85 billion to relinquish its right to the spectrum. The government would garner $10 billion in the transaction.
Stevens’ constituent, Alaska Native Wireless LLC, has long held out hope for a settlement.
