Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Verizon Wireless wants the FCC to Auction the 1.9 Ghz spectrum that Nextel wants.

From: Marcelrf <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2004 16:55:37 -0500

Verizon Wireless calls on FCC to auction
airwaves
Thursday February 26, 2:43 pm ET
By Jeremy Pelofsky

NEW YORK, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Verizon Wireless, the No. 1 U.S. wireless
carrier, on Thursday asked federal regulators to auction valuable
airwaves that could be used to solve interference problems with another
commercial provider and public safety communications.

Nextel Communications Inc.
(NasdaqNM:NXTL - News) previously
had proposed paying $850 million to
upgrade public safety
communications and move some of
its operations out of the 800
megahertz band in exchange for a
swath of airwaves in the 1.9
gigahertz band.

The Federal Communications
Commission is considering the
proposal or resolving interference on
a case-by-case basis. Nextel's
concept has sparked protests from
other wireless carriers who have
described it as an unfair "windfall."

Verizon Wireless' vice president for business development, Molly
Feldman, said that she recently met with FCC officials who questioned
her about how much the company would be willing to pay for the airwaves
if auctioned.
"Verizon Wireless is ready, willing and able to participate in an
immediate auction," Feldman said in a reply letter to the FCC.
The company, a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - News)
and Britain's Vodafone Group Plc (London:VOD.L - News), pointed out that
a study it commissioned that showed the slice of airwaves (at 1.9
gigahertz) were worth almost $5.3 billion.

"There is absolutely no justification for squandering such a valuable
asset by giving it away to Nextel or anyone else through a 'private
sale'," Feldman said. "We therefore urge that you immediately take the
steps necessary to make the 1.9 Ghz spectrum available for auction."

The company argued that the problems of interference could be solved by
realigning the 800 Mhz band alone, an idea endorsed by a small group of
U.S. House of Representatives lawmakers who wrote to the FCC Thursday
echoing Verizon Wireless' points.

A Nextel representative was not immediately available for comment.
The FCC has been discussing the proposals with industry and public
safety officials and hopes to complete work on the issue this spring,
one official said last month. An FCC spokeswoman was not immediately
available for comment.
Analysts at the Legg Mason firm have said they believe the FCC may
require Nextel to pay more for the swap before agreeing to the plan.

http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/040226/telecoms_verizonwireless_1.html
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