Cingular Wireless L.L.C. officially announced it has reached an agreement with bankrupt license holder NextWave Telecom Inc. to purchase spectrum licenses covering 34 markets and 83 million potential customers for $1.4 billion.
The deal, which primarily covers markets where Cingular currently has spectrum and has launched service, was leaked last week by NextWave’s public relations company (see Cingular says NextWave purchase not a done deal).
The two companies said they will present the proposed deal to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York for approval, which if attained, then would be submitted to the Federal Communications Commission for approval of the license transfers.
NextWave said it has negotiated a separate term sheet with the FCC that provides for payment of NextWave’s more than $4 billion financial obligation to the U.S. Treasury associated with the license rights to be assigned to Cingular.
