Washington, D.C. - The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) congratulated Congress today for refusing to circumvent a court decision that denied the NextWave company use of valuable segments of the telecommunications spectrum.

“After welching on their original deal with the government and then attempting to commandeer valuable Personal Communication Service (PCS) licenses through the courts, NextWave continued its chicanery in recent months with a million-dollar lobbying campaign to pressure Congress to hand over precious pieces of the public telecom spectrum,” CAGW President Thomas A. Schatz said.  “Leaders such as Senators Judd Gregg (R-N. H.) and Pete Domenici (R-N. M.) are to be congratulated for standing up to NextWave’s attempted spectrum grab.  NextWave’s failure to beg, borrow, or steal the PCS licenses is a clear-cut win for taxpayers.”

In June of 1996, NextWave Telecommunications, Inc. was the high bidder for a block of PCS licenses that were auctioned off by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).  These "C-Block" licenses cover most metropolitan areas and half of the U.S. population.  Despite the agreement, NextWave soon thereafter declared bankruptcy at which point, outrageously, it went to court to try to keep the licenses without paying for them.  In December of 1999, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously found against NextWave.  NextWave’s Capitol Hill lobbying campaign was its last-ditch attempt to keep the licences for free.

Last week the licenses were auctioned off successfully to paying bidders, netting $11.6 billion to the U.S. Treasury.  The productive use of the licenses will give customers greater choices in carriers, technologies, and service options at lower prices.

“Frankly, this case never should have made it all the way to the U.S. Second Court of Appeals, but fortunately the final verdict was just,” Schatz added.  “We thank Congress for allowing the FCC to conduct its business in a manner that will have a positive effect on taxpayers and the economy."     

CCAGW is the lobbying arm of Citizens Against Government Waste, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, mismanagement and abuse in government.