FCC is expected to finalize order as early as today (Fri.) that w...
FCC is expected to finalize order as early as today (Fri.) that will return most of $3.1 billion in deposit payments that NextWave re-auction winners had sought after settlement agreement on licenses fell apart, sources said. Commission is expected…
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to return all but 3% of amount that re-auction winners had put down on licenses, sources said. “What it does is it preserves the structure of the auction in case there is a settlement,” said Dan Pegg, senior vp of Leap Wireless, which is among re-auction winners that had sought return of down payments. Leap also has expressed interest in returning to settlement talks if other stakeholders also return, step that Verizon Wireless has said it wasn’t willing to even talk about until deposits were returned. If FCC hadn’t retained some portion of deposits, auction results would have been set aside entirely, Pegg said: “We're pleased that they are going to retain that 3% until either a settlement is reached or a final determination is made that one cannot be.” Companies that won NextWave licenses in re- auction year ago asked FCC earlier this month to refund $3.1 billion in down payments that agency has been holding without interest since Feb. 2000. As largest re-auction winner, Verizon Wireless share of down payments was $1.7 billion, followed by Alaska Native Wireless with $544.7 million and Salmon PCS with $416.2 million.