Verizon Wireless gets its New York spectrum--finally

After three years of court fights, negotiations and re-auctions, Verizon Wireless finally has a portion of the NextWave PCS spectrum it bid $8.7 billion for in 2001. The carrier announced today that it has closed its deal with NextWave to purchase a 10 MHz PCS license in the greater New York metropolitan area for a cool $930 million.

The license is only a fraction of the total allotted to Verizon after the FCC’s controversial seizure and re-auction of NextWave’s licenses, but it is certainly one of the most valuable. The courts awarded the licenses back to NextWave and last spring FCC and the carrier negotiated a settlement, which allowed NextWave to keep all 30 MHz of its spectrum in New York. Of the $15.85 billion the re-auction raised in 2001, Verizon Wireless bids accounted for half, and almost half of the bids Verizon submitted were for the 30 MHz of spectrum in New York.

Not only the country’s largest market, but also the most dense, New York has long presented spectrum problems for carriers launching service there. Verizon Wireless, already the largest spectrum holder in that market, has long tried to secure more spectrum there. In fact, when NextWave held its own re-auction of its remaining licenses in July, Verizon was the only bidder willing to come up with the minimum $930 million asking price. The remaining spectrum on the licenses on the block only netted about $200 million.

Verizon is also reportedly making headway in its negotiations with NextWave for spectrum it did not auction in July. Reuters reported earlier this month that the two were close to finalizing a $3 billion deal for 20 remaining licenses under NextWave’s control. Considering how much spectrum in other markets has been devalued since 2001, either some or all of the remaining 20 MHz in New York is presumably part of the deal.