NEW YORK-Deutsche Telekom, which bought England's One-2-One last month, considers its 10-percent stake in Sprint Corp. too minuscule a toehold in the burgeoning and beckoning American market, company executives said at a press conference Sept. 9.Make no mistake, the German giant is pleased with...
WASHINGTON-After weeks of refusing to publicly explain its deal with Nextel Communications Inc., the Federal Communications Commission is being forced to tell all to the top House telecommunications policy maker by Sept. 27.Rep. Thomas Bliley (R-Va.), chairman of the House Commerce Committee, sent a...
NEW YORK-Chalk one up for the Federal Communications Commission, which received a stay Aug. 31 of several lower-court decisions that affirmed key aspects of the bankruptcy reorganization of C-block carrier NextWave Personal Communications Inc.As such, NextWave's Chapter 11 reorganization confirmation and consummation hearing is...
FCC Chairman Bill Kennard had an excellent opportunity last Tuesday to set the record straight on the side deal his top legal officer cut with the Justice Department and Nextel Communications Inc. last month. But he let it get away.Why?The trio agreed to let...
Having returned from Cape Cod and read about the ill-fated hostile takeover attempt by Nextel Communications Inc., the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department, I got to thinking: Had FCC Chairman Bill Kennard become Melville's Ahab, so obsessed with catching NextWave Telecom Inc. (and...
WASHINGTON-Geotek Communications Inc. creditors blasted the proposed antitrust settlement between the Justice Department and Nextel Comm-unications Inc., while government lawyers continued to fight to limit the creditors' participation in the matter.Unlike small- and medium-sized dispatch radio operators, which claim the DOJ-Nextel deal does not...
Everywhere you look it seems wireless companies are declaring bankruptcy. Iridium, NextWave and Metro PCS all are trying to beat their way through the complex jungle of Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization to make a go of it in tomorrow's telecom field. Narrow-band PCS player...
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.-The government late Friday was granted a last-minute emergency stay in its appeal against the bankruptcy reorganization of NextWave Personal Communications Inc., despite a stinging rebuke from another judge earlier in the week that blocked FCC appeal plans.The stay, signed by Chief...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission received two rebukes from the Senate last week regarding the agreement its general counsel signed Aug. 10 that seemed to pave the way for Nextel Communications Inc. to buy personal communications services licenses held by NextWave Telecom Inc.Also, notwithstanding a...
WASHINGTON-The major trade associations representing mobile phone carriers are staying out of the legislative battle over whether the Federal Communications Commission should be able to take back radio-frequency spectrum licenses from carriers when they go bankrupt, including the licenses held by Metro PCS and...
Anyway you slice it, the Nextel-government-NextWave thing is weird.Nextel Communications Inc. gets government approval to go after NextWave Telecom Inc. licenses, even though NextWave has no intention of giving up its licenses and has had significant victories in bankruptcy court in reducing its license...
While Nextel Communications Inc.'s pursuit of personal communications services licenses held by bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc. appears to have come to an end, the Federal Communications Commission continues to search every avenue to stay the U.S. Bankruptcy Court's confirmation of NextWave's reorganization plan."The government...
News that Nextel Communications Inc. received government approval to pursue 95 personal communications services licenses held by bankrupt designated entity NextWave Telecom Inc. dumbfounded and angered several large carriers last week and put into question whether the Federal Communications Commission brokered a back-door deal...
WASHINGTON-Whether the spectrum cap should stay or go-one issue that distinguishes incumbent cellular operators and upstart personal communications services operators-"will hopefully" be decided by the Federal Communications Commission at its September meeting, said Thomas Sugrue, chief of the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau.The Cellular Telecommunications...
The fallout from the C-block debacle continued last week as Wisconsin-based C-blocker Airadigm Communications filed for chapter 11 protection at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Madison, Wis.Meanwhile, C-block winner NextWave Personal Communications Inc. was handed a favorable ruling in its own bankruptcy proceeding.Airadigm has...
WASHINGTON-A wild flurry of lobbying on telecom appropriations bills late last week ended with Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) withdrawing an amendment to relax the spectrum cap and House subcommittee members deciding against bankruptcy changes advocated by the Federal Communications Commission and approved by the...
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.-NextWave Personal Communications Inc. may find its bid to keep its C-block personal communications services licenses more challenging as the case goes to appeals court."I don't see how a debtor can have its cake and eat it too," Judge Charles L. Brieant...
WASHINGTON-At the root of two remaining legal battles from the personal communications service C-block debacle is one word-money.If the Federal Communications Commission is not after money, it should not care what a New York bankruptcy judge ruled, says NextWave Personal Communications Inc.If Omnipoint Corp....
WASHINGTON-The chairman of the Senate subcommittee that controls the purse strings of the Federal Communications Commission believes strongly companies that purchase spectrum licenses either should pay the original bid price or lose the license."On this issue, Sen. Gregg felt strongly since he oversees...
WASHINGTON-A Senate Appropriations subcommittee has included language in the Federal Communications Commission's funding bill that would allow it to take back licenses tied up in bankruptcy, including licenses held by NextWave Telecom and General Wireless Inc.Both NextWave and GWI have had the value of...
Sprint PCS announced it will stop operating its Global System for Mobile communications network in Washington, D.C., by the end of the year, ending months of speculation and denials from the nationwide Code Division Multiple Access operator.Sprint PCS, which once held a 58.5-percent interest...
WASHINGTON-While the Federal Communications Commission's implementation of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 has been upheld for the most part, the agency has wound up lately on the wrong end of tounge lashings by federal court judges.The FCC and its representatives, have had arguments called...
When did the universe get so topsy-turvy?(I'd venture to guess right around the time the Dow hit 8,000 for the first time?)The stock market rules.Global Crossing Ltd.-an unknown telecom venture by most accounts-can make a bid for Baby Bell U S West Inc., and...
NEW YORK-The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York handed NextWave Personal Communications Inc. a big victory May 13, cutting its C-block license bid obligation to $1.023 billion from $4.744 billion."The court has provided a market-based solution upon which NextWave can...
