WASHINGTON-President Bush has appointed Janice Obuchowski to head the U.S. delegation to the World Radiocommunication Conference this summer in Geneva.The expected appointment of Obuchowski, a former telecom policy-maker and NextWave Telecom Inc. executive who now heads a consulting firm, comes just days after the...
NEW YORK-Fitch Ratings affirmed its A+ senior unsecured rating for Verizon Global Funding and A+ implied senior unsecured rating of Verizon Communications Inc., noting progress Verizon made last year in delevering its balance sheet as well as further prospects for continuing that effort in...
WASHINGTON-Eldorado Communications L.L.C. asked the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau to overturn the Federal Communications Commission's recent decision to allow winners in the re-auction of bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc.'s licenses to opt out of their bids.The wireless bureau can wait until the U.S. Court of...
Fresh off the government's decision to release all participants from the financial responsibility related to the ill-fated auction of NextWave Telecom Inc.'s wireless spectrum, Verizon Wireless Inc. purchased 50 wireless licenses from Long Island, N.Y.-based Northcoast Communications L.L.C.The $750 million cash deal, which is...
WASHINGTON-It would be nice to say this policy or that technology will shape the direction of the wireless industry in 2003. But neither industry nor official Washington has that luxury. Geopolitics could come to color the wireless world to a far greater extent than...
WASHINGTON-It would be nice to say this policy or that technology will shape the direction of the wireless industry in 2003. But neither industry nor official Washington has that luxury. Geopolitics could come to color the wireless world to a far greater extent than...
Editor's note: At the end of each year, the RCR Wireless News editorial staff looks back on the news events that made headlines and decides which were the most significant, industry-impacting stories of the past 12 months. Here are our picks for 2002 in...
spectrum in Northcoast buyFresh off the government's decision to release all participants from the financial responsibility related to the ill-fated auction of NextWave Telecom Inc.'s wireless spectrum, Verizon Wireless Inc. purchased 50 wireless licenses from Long Island, N.Y.-based Northcoast Communications L.L.C.The $750 million cash...
NEW YORK-Moody's Investor Services downgraded its senior unsecured long-term debt ratings of Verizon Communications Inc. from A1 to A2 and the long-term debt ratings of Verizon Wireless Inc. from A2 to A3, but upgraded its outlook from negative to stable.The ratings agency cited concerns...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission officially relieved the winning bidders of 156 licenses totaling more than $14 billion in its ill-fated attempt to re-auction personal communications services licenses during its Auction 35 last year. Those relieved bidders include Alaska Native Wireless, CellCo Partnership, Salmon PCS,...
WASHINGTON-While the 107th Congress will not be remembered for major telecom and high-tech legislative achievements, there is a potential silver lining that could become gold for industry when lawmakers return early next year. It comes in the form of a new homeland security department,...
To the Editor, I was gratified to see that Tracy Ford presented an ultimately positive view of the tower industry in her Nov. 18 editorial, as PCIA also sees great promise for the tower industry, which we represent. Specifically, I want to point out...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Thursday gave Verizon Wireless what it has been begging for-relief from the re-auction of the personal communications services (PCS) C- and F-block licenses of bankrupt NextWave Telecom."I do not believe the public interest is served by tying up...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday gave Verizon Wireless Inc. what it has been begging for-relief from the re-auction of the PCS C- and F-block licenses of bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc."I do not believe the public interest is served by tying up deposits and,...
REDMOND, Wash.-AT&T Wireless Services Inc. amended the terms of its participation in Alaska Native Wireless, which was its designated entity bidding partner in the Federal Communications Commission's attempt to re-auction NextWave Telecom Inc. and Urban Communications PCS Ltd. Partnership spectrum early last year. ANW...
WASHINGTON-Three senators have urged the Federal Communications Commission to allow the re-auction winners of bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc.'s licenses to opt-out of their bids."We continue to be concerned as to carriers' ongoing contingent liability to pay their bid amounts totaling nearly $16 billion on...
WASHINGTON-Two U.S. Supreme Court justices seem to hold the fate of bankrupt NextWave Telecom in the palms of their hands.If NextWave is to prevail, Justice Antonin Scalia needs to convince his colleagues that the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) use of the word "automatic" runs...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission is seeking comment on whether bidders in the re-auction of bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc.'s PCS C- and F-block licenses should be able to withdraw entirely from the re-auction or choose to keep certain licenses and discard the rest."Since the commission...
BOISE, Idaho-One way to solve the capital crisis facing wireless companies today would be for the Federal Communications Commission to void the re-auction of bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc.'s PCS C- and F-block licenses, the president of Verizon Wireless Inc. told the nation's governors on...
WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) qualified 128 bidders to participate in the scheduled 19 June auction of 758 licenses in the lower 700 MHz band (698-746 MHz).Qualified bidders made more than US$157 million in down payments.No nationwide carrier filed to participate, but other paging,...
WASHINGTON—One of the major players in the PCS C-block saga said on Tuesday that a negotiated settlement is probably not the way to go because it will not give everyone what they need."I think the best answer is to let the courts resolve this...
WASHINGTON—Representatives of bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc. and re-auction winners of NextWave's PCS C- and F-block licenses are set to meet on Tuesday afternoon in the offices of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, to restart settlement negotiations, according to...
WASHINGTON—Verizon Wireless appealed a decision by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) last month to return 85 percent of the deposits for the winning bids for licenses held by NextWave Telecom and Urban Communicators PCS."Verizon Wireless seeks relief on the grounds that the FCC has...
WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said that it is returning 85 percent of the deposits made when the agency re-auctioned the personal communications services (PCS) C- and F-block licenses originally won by NextWave Telecom and Urban Comm-North Carolina. The total to be returned is...
