BELLEVUE, Wash.-Nextlink Communications Inc. and HighSpeed.com L.L.C. announced a partnership in which Nextlink will pay $18.7 million to Walla Walla, Wash.-based HighSpeed.com in exchange for a 15-percent equity position in the company and 300 megahertz of local multipoint distribution service broadband wireless spectrum in Denver.
Dan Akerson, Nextlink’s chairman and chief executive officer, said the agreement will help Nextlink use broadband wireless networks to complement its local fiber networks the company is building throughout the United States.
The agreement also provides for certain additional network-related services to be provided by Nextlink to HighSpeed.com.
HighSpeed.com said it intends to use the proceeds of the transaction for further acquisitions and for operating capital.