Magnacom Wireless has no right to proceeds from the FCC auction o...
Magnacom Wireless has no right to proceeds from the FCC auction of licenses Magnacom once owned, a federal appeals court ruled Monday. “The FCC’s cancellation of Magnacom’s licenses extinguished Magnacom’s interest in those licenses and the underlying spectrum,” said…
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the U.S. Appeals Court for the 9th Circuit, upholding a lower court decision. The appeal was filed by a trustee for the bankrupt company. Magnacom, a designated entity, filed for bankruptcy in 1998, the day before it would have been declared in default of installment payments for C- and F-block licenses won in 1996. The FCC cancelled the licenses, eventually reauctioning them. The agency also sought to recover $48 million that Magnacom’s bankruptcy estate still owed. The estate argued that the FCC instead should return any proceeds from the auction of the new licenses exceeding what Magnacom owed. The U.S. District Court in Seattle turned down that request; the appeals court agreed with the decision.