WASHINGTON-Nextel Communications Inc. and Verizon Wireless confirmed being contacted by the Justice Department in what could be the early stages of an antitrust probe of the push-to-talk wireless market.
“Nextel has received a request for information from the staff of the United States Department of Justice, and we are responding to their request,” said Audrey Schaefer, a Nextel spokeswoman.
The Justice Department’s investigation comes less than two weeks after Nextel and Verizon Wireless agreed to drop lawsuits against each other involving allegations of corporate espionage and false advertising about PTT service.
“We did receive a request from DoJ pertaining to the Nextel investigation,” said Jeffrey Nelson, a Verizon Wireless spokesman.
Nextel dominates the PTT business, while Verizon Wireless and Sprint PCS are relative newcomers to the niche market. Sprint PCS declined to comment on the matter.
Motorola Inc., the nation’s top wireless manufacturer, is the dominant supplier to Nextel.
“We don’t comment on specific investigations, but we cooperate with proper requests for information from government authorities,” said William Parke, a Motorola spokesman.
Gina Talamona, a DoJ spokesperson, said she could not comment on the department’s correspondence with Nextel or any other wireless firm.
Nextel is no stranger to the Justice Department. In the mid-1990s, the wireless carrier was party to a court-approved antitrust settlement prompted by its quest to purchase a bankrupt PTT wireless company. In December 1999, U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan modified a 1995 consent decree in a way that allowed Nextel to acquire more frequencies for PTT wireless service.
