FCC Reclaims 63 NextWave Licenses

The Federal Communications Commission reclaimed 63 wireless licenses held by bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc. and said it will auction them beginning July 26. The licenses, which raised $4.8 billion in a 1996 auction and include those for Los Angeles and New York, could set off a bidding frenzy by wireless companies seeking additional frequencies to offer new services such as Internet access. Nextel Communications Inc., which abandoned an $8.3-billion hostile bid for the NextWave licenses after a federal appeals court said the licenses could be resold, is among companies expected to bid in the auction. Hawthorne, N.Y.-based NextWave had paid the government about $500 million for the licenses before it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1998 after it failed to raise enough money to pay its multibillion-dollar debt. Shares of Reston, Va.-based Nextel climbed $6.81 to close at $102.06 on Nasdaq. They have more than tripled in the last 12 months.