WASHINGTON – In the wake of a recent decision by a Dallas, Texas, bankruptcy judge that General Wireless Inc. did not pay “the reasonably equivalent value” for its C-block licenses, other licensees recently urged the Federal Communications Commission to reconsider its debt restructuring plan for C-Block licensees.
The licensees, which filed comments on the election date proposal, said the FCC should scrap its current model for debt restructuring and start over.
Currently, licensees have until June 8 to choose one of a menu of options designed to permit the licensees to build out licenses they want to keep and pay the government for the licenses.
NextWave Telecom Inc., the largest C-block licensee, said the options offered by the FCC “must now be weighed against an alternative financing arrangement in bankruptcy that is profoundly different than the outcome on which the (FCC’s rule) is based.”
The FCC received a variety of proposals, including a suggestion that the July 31 date be deferred again. The July date is when licensees are expected to resume installment payments deferred by the FCC last year. The C-Block Alliance said the FCC’s requirement to resume installment payments on July 31 is “inappropriate and discriminatory.”
Most companies filed comments specific to their circumstances. For example, Windkeeper Communications, a licensee of only one C-block license, objects to the amnesty arrangement because in its view it discriminates against smaller companies. Another company, Northcoast Communications, said it had not engaged in previous wrangling over debt restructuring but that the modifications made to the plan in March “go too far and turn a `menu of measured options’ into a `smorgasbord of hearty choices.”‘
