Arctic Slope Regional Corp., Council Tree Communications and Voic...

intervening brief filed on side of FCC that D.C. Circuit allowed NextWave to keep licenses worth more than $15 billion, “which the FCC determined were not in the public interest for NextWave to hold.” U.S. appealed ruling by D.C. Circuit last year that essentially overturned FCC decision to cancel NextWave licenses for nonpayment. Decision led to FCC’s returning these PCS licenses to NextWave, upsetting results of re- auction of licenses that generated nearly $16 billion in bids. Carriers argued that D.C. Circuit allowed carrier under Sec. 525 of Bankruptcy Code to frustrate FCC’s regulatory duty “by the simple expedient of declaring bankruptcy.” Sec. 525 bars govt. units from revoking licenses of debtor or bankrupt entity solely because they haven’t paid dischargeable debt. FCC has argued that D.C. Circuit’s reading of Sec. 525 impedes market-based mechanisms for allocating spectrum set out by Congress in Sec. 309 of Communications Act. VoiceStream and other wireless carriers told high court Mon. that “Congress never intended for that bankruptcy provision to force agencies to grant exclusive licenses to entities that, like NextWave, fail to satisfy an express regulatory condition for holding a license.”