Washington — Regulators sought to downplay a resounding defeat Monday (Jan. 27) in the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that the Federal Communications Commission improperly seized wireless licenses from NextWave Telecom.
The seizure's took place after NextWave (Hawthorne, N.Y.) won the licenses at auction but lost them when it missed payments to the government and ultimately filed for bankruptcy.
In an 8-1 vote, the high court rejected the government's argument that it was acting as a regulator and not as a creditor when it seized the licenses to provide high-speed wireless access. NextWave agreed to pay $4.7 billion for the licenses in 1996, but fell on hard times when the telecommunications market collapsed.
The FCC acted largely at the prompting of other carriers who sought to obtain the licenses after NextWave filed for bankruptcy.
FCC Chairman Michael Powell said the agency would re-evaluate its position in light of the Supreme Court ruling.
"The Supreme Court's decision brings much needed certainty to an unsettled area of the law," Powell said. "We are in the process of examining all of the ramifications of the Court's decision."
Despite the loss, the agency promised to implement the Court's ruling, which was viewed as a victory for greater competition in the U.S. telecommunications industry.
