High Court: Bankruptcy law trumps FCC
By BroadCasting & Cable Staff -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/29/2003 6:12:00 AM
The Federal Communications Commission may not revoke spectrum holders' licenses solely for failure to pay debts to the government, the Supreme Court has ruled.
The decision set the stage for resolving a seven-year dispute between the FCC and NextWave Telecom Inc.
NextWave in 1996 had the winning $4.7 billion bid for wireless licenses in dozens of the country's largest markets, but it declared bankruptcy after paying the government just $500 million.
In a bid to resell the licenses, the FCC reauctioned them in 2001 for $16 billion to Verizon Communications and other major telcommunications companies, but a lower-court ruling invalidated that sale.
Although the specifics of the NextWave case limit the applicability of the Supreme Court decision, the court's rulings put to rest the original FCC assertion that interests of regulators can trump bankruptcy law.
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