WASHINGTON-The FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Thursday approved the planned sale of Urban Comm’s PCS licenses to Verizon Wireless. Urban Comm plans to sell its remaining licenses to Triton PCS Holdings Inc., but the FCC has yet to act on this transaction.
“Continued litigation will only hinder the Federal Communications Commission’s ability to recover the value of the spectrum. The proposed assignment of licenses from Urban Comm to Verizon Wireless is an important step in ending the uncertainty surrounding the licenses as a result of the Urban Comm proceedings. Here, as in the case of the NextWave Telecom Inc. bankruptcy, it is unclear how long it would take to achieve the recovery of a portion of the value of the public spectrum resource through the bankruptcy process,” said Catherine Seidel, acting chief of the wireless bureau. “We do not believe that approval of the proposed transaction and grant of a limited waiver results in any unjust enrichment as contemplated by the FCC’s rules.”
The C-block auction, as it was known, was set up for small businesses. Because it was the third auction after large, established carriers had already purchased their licenses, many of the C-blockers did not succeed. The most notable of these was NextWave who entered into an eight-year bankruptcy saga. After Judge Adlai Hardin Jr. reduced the amount NextWave owed the government, the FCC canceled NextWave’s licenses and went about canceling other similarly situated licenses such as those won by Urban Comm. Ultimately, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned this result. Following the Supreme Court decision, NextWave sold its PCS licenses to Cingular Wireless L.LC. and Verizon Wireless and returned other licenses to the FCC. Other C-blockers have also been plotting their way out of bankruptcies.
As part of a settlement reached between Urban Comm, the FCC and Verizon Wireless, Verizon Wireless will pay the commission $43.6 million.
