WASHINGTON-NextWave Telecom Inc. has been given 10 days by the bankruptcy court to figure out its plan to emerge from bankruptcy protection, which will allow it to continue to consider offers from several sources, according to court filings.
Several news outlets have said these offers are largely from Verizon Wireless, currently the nation’s largest carrier.
The talks between Verizon Wireless and NextWave were outed Thursday by CNBC, citing unnamed sources and referencing the bankruptcy documents filed recently by NextWave in a New York bankruptcy court.
NextWave won a long and involved legal battle with the Federal Communications Commission almost two years ago. Since then NextWave has been steadily selling its assets, all the while maintaining it still plans to go forward with its business plan to lease its spectrum to carriers wishing to use it for data services.
NextWave said it had no comment on the news reports.
Verizon Wireless said it could not confirm the rumors. “As we have demonstrated in the past, Verizon Wireless is always looking for spectrum at the right price,” said Jim Gerace, vice president of corporate communications for Verizon Wireless.
Verizon Wireless is expected to complete the $930 million purchase of NextWave’s New York license later this month.
In addition, NextWave returned several licenses to the FCC. The commission will begin auctioning these licenses Jan. 12, which ironically is five years to the day that the FCC cancelled NextWave’s licenses for non-payment. Ultimately, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the licenses could not be cancelled while NextWave was in bankruptcy. Earlier this year, NextWave settled all of the remaining legal issues with the FCC.
