NextWave Telecom Inc. said it filed for permission with its bankruptcy court to form a partnership with California-based venture capital firm Clarity Partners L.P. to acquire additional spectrum. The partnership, which NextWave said would be named IPCom, would be formed and funded by Clarity and would look to spend up to $150 million to acquire spectrum to deploy wireless broadband services.
NextWave said that if the plan is approved by the bankruptcy court, the company would pay Clarity an initial $1 million fee, and the venture plans to have an acquisition strategy in place by the end of July.
Earlier this week, rumors surfaced that NextWave is close to an agreement to sell approximately 20 percent of its recently recovered spectrum licenses to Cingular Wireless L.L.C. for nearly $1.5 billion. Reports said the sale would not include spectrum licenses in New York City, where NextWave currently controls a 30-megahertz C-block license and Cingular recently launched service through a network sharing agreement with T-Mobile USA Inc.
