With its back to the wall and down to its last gasp, NextWave Telecom Inc. and friends brought in the big guns. Bay Harbor Management, a New-York investment firm and a large creditor/shareholder in NextWave, signed up high-powered lobbyists at the firm headed by...
Just as it took an unabashed California chick to do what no GOP or Democratic pol could do-outfox Bill Clinton-Naomi Wolf now has done what no pundit could ever do: explain what makes official Washington tick.It all boils down to the uneasy coexistence of alpha...
NEW YORK-Even if it fails to acquire the radio-frequency licenses of NextWave Telecom Inc., Nextel Communications Inc. already owns sufficient spectrum to fulfill its 10-year business plan, according to its chief executive.Timothy M. Donahue, Nextel president and chief executive officer, told attendees last week...
I never fully experienced the joy of eating shrimp until I lived in Florida.Being a North Dakota girl, my shrimp choices had been limited to basket-fried, deep-fried, beer-batter fried or broiled in enough butter that it just as well could have been fried. In...
WASHINGTON-It went down to the wire, but when all was said and done, the personal communications service licenses won at auction by bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc. escaped the machinations of balancing the federal budget.White House budget negotiators continually tried to convince the congressional leadership...
WASHINGTON-Whether Congress and the White House can balance the budget for fiscal 2000 this week without delving into the Social Security Trust Fund may depend on whether the Clinton administration is able to push through a plan to recover at least $3.5 billion from...
NEW YORK-The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit heard oral arguments Nov. 1 in the government's appeal of decisions that had affirmed key aspects of the bankruptcy reorganization of C-block carrier NextWave Telecom Inc., Hawthorne, N.Y.The three-judge Circuit Court panel comprised Judges...
WASHINGTON-When it comes to spending money to open doors and change hearts and minds in official Washington, the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association is King of the Hill.As a wireless trade association, CTIA is without peer-a lobbying juggernaut. Money appears to be no object. In...
NEW YORK-Because of the burgeoning demand for data communications in the United States, wireless local access is emerging from the shadows of its mobile brethren and coming into its own as a bona fide business opportunity."There is tremendous enthusiasm for data, and the enthusiasm...
WASHINGTON-The U.S. wireless industry was rocked on 10 August by revelations that iDEN operator Nextel Communications had entered into an agreement with federal government officials to allow Nextel to buy bankrupt NextWave Telecom's PCS licenses.NextWave was one of the top bidders in the U.S....
WASHINGTON-House Republicans last week signaled their intention to pursue Federal Communications Commission reform sooner and in a more drastic fashion than envisioned by FCC Chairman William Kennard."Five years is simply too long," said House telecommunications subcommittee Chairman Billy Tauzin at last Tuesday's hearing. "The...
NextWave Telecom Inc.'s bankruptcy court last week refused to lift a restraining order that bans Nextel Communications Inc. from soliciting votes from NextWave's creditors on an alternative reorganization plan and making public statements about its discussions with the creditors.Nextel, with blessings from the Federal...
HAWTHORNE, N.Y.-NextWave Telecom Inc. announced its entry into the high-speed wireless Internet market with its introduction of iBridge, a service designed specifically to provide affordable high-speed Internet access as an alternative to local telephone service.NextWave said it plans to introduce iBridge service commercially in...
WASHINGTON-Negotiations that led to a tentative agreement among the Department of Justice, the Federal Communications Commission and Nextel Communications Inc. allowing Nextel to buy licenses held by the bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc. were both proper and normal in bankruptcy proceedings, Nextel and DOJ said...
Bankrupt C-block licensee General Wireless Inc. has satisfied too much of its reorganization plan for the Federal Communications Commission to appeal it, a Texas district court judge ruled last week.GWI, which changed its name to Metro PCS in March, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy...
The Federal Communications Commission once again must address rules surrounding the now-defunct pioneer's preference process, a program riddled with controversy throughout this decade.Omnipoint Corp. and VoiceStream Wireless Corp. last week filed an opposition to Qualcomm Inc.'s petition that the FCC deny the carrier's request...
NEW ORLEANS-The bankruptcies of certain C-block and mobile satellite companies, coupled with mutual fund outflows, rising interest rates and other macro-economic trends, have aligned like planets in a bad omen for wireless companies that cannot get financing before Halloween.This year, there remains a window...
WASHINGTON-Federal Communications Commission Chairman William Kennard last week told the House of Representatives' top telecommunications lawmaker, Rep. Thomas Bliley (R-Va.), that a letter signed by the FCC general counsel does not bind either him or the other commissioners to agree to a deal that...
WASHINGTON-For the second straight week, Commerce Committee Chairman Thomas Bliley (R-Va.) hammered the Federal Communications Commission over questionable wireless licensing activity and opened a new probe into the proposed merger of Lockheed Martin Corp. and Comsat Corp.Bliley's Sept. 13 letter to FCC Chairman William...
WASHINGTON-The saga of the NextWave Telecom Inc. bankruptcy, like a hurricane in the ocean, kept churning last week as a variety of activities here and in New York had players of all sizes scrambling to keep up.On the business front, the company's unsecured creditors'...
WASHINGTON-With lawmakers back at work, the wireless industry will shift gears to push for passage of pending bills and try to position other legislation for congressional approval in 2000.Before the House and Senate recessed in August, the industry was forced to play defense against...
If you want clout in Washington, the only thing better than being a top board member of either of the two largest wireless trade associations is not being a member of the two largest wireless trade associationsAsk Nextel Communications Inc. It's not a member...
WASHINGTON-Despite a vow to veto the Republican tax-cut bill when it is sent to the president, the White House Chief of Staff said the Clinton administration will still support the research and development tax credit.The R&D tax credit is a favorite of the wireless...
Bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc. and Nextel Communications Inc. have tentatively agreed to again extend terms of a temporary restraining order banning Nextel from proposing its own reorganization plan to NextWave's creditors.NextWave's bankruptcy court initially granted the temporary restraining order (TRO) Aug. 13, but Nextel...
