NextWave asked the bankruptcy court overseeing its reorganization for permission to sell at auction its FCC license rights in 6 markets outside its Northeast “footprint,” including 10 MHz of its 30 MHz in N.Y., the company said Mon. The other licenses are for Denver, Portland, Ore., Sarasota, Fla., Tampa, and Tulsa. The reserve price of the 6 licenses offered at auction is $1.083 billion, according to publicly available records. NextWave said it would sell only its C2 block spectrum in N.Y. It planned to retain 20 MHz in other bands that would allow it to file a plan in answer to a request for proposal by the N.Y. Dept. of Information Technology & Telecom for design and construction of a citywide wireless network.

The FCC scheduled a vote June 10 on a modified version of revised ITFS-MMDS spectrum rules. Details emerged Thurs. as the Commission prepared to release its sunshine agenda, shutting off further lobbying. The report and order includes a compromise eliminating any changes to the “open eligibility” rule -- which was pushed hard by the education groups that control ITFS spectrum, sources told us. FCC will also release a notice of further rulemaking asking many questions about future use of the spectrum.

The FCC is strongly considering delaying an order on ITFS spectrum rules due at the Commission next week, according to officials at the Wireless Communications Assn. conference in Washington Wed. The FCC has faced a firestorm of protests the past week, since word broke an order was steaming forward that would take 18 MHz of spectrum away from ITFS as part of a rule on the MMDS/ITFS spectrum allocation. The Commission must decide today (Thurs.) whether the order will be on the sunshine agenda for the June 10 Commission meeting.

The Ad Hoc MMDS Licensee Consortium (AMLC), contradicting Wireless Communications Assn. (WCA) statements, told the FCC some companies would be very supportive of a carve-out creating a new 12 MHz band of spectrum -- taken in part from the ITFS band -- to be sold at auction for wireless broadband and other advanced services.

The high-profile investment of wireless pioneer Craig McCaw in ITFS spectrum has raised the stakes as the FCC considers a proposal to revise the rules for ITFS/MDS spectrum. McCaw is expected to have more to say about his plans and the business he’s building in a speech Wed. at the Wireless Communications Assn. meeting in Washington. McCaw met with FCC Chmn. Powell in April to talk about his views on ITFS. He’s viewed as being a force behind a pending FCC proposal to take 6 MHz from ITFS, combine it with another 6 MHz, and offer the spectrum for sale through auction for advanced services.

European Union (EU) countries should be required to implement radio spectrum trading and liberalization to spur more efficient use of spectrum, a report submitted this week to the European Commission said. However, it said, given the likelihood of wide divergence among member states in introducing spectrum trading, countries should be given wide latitude in deciding how their systems will work so long as national spectrum management regimes are coordinated across the EU. The report was prepared by Analysys, DotEcon and Hogan & Hartson. It’s up for discussion at a July 15 European Commission workshop in Brussels.

A proposal to create 2 MDS channels for auction to new market entrants -- by taking 6 MHz of spectrum from ITFS and MDS incumbents -- can’t move forward for a vote as is, under the Administrative Procedures Act, the Wireless Communications Assn. told the FCC. The Commission is reportedly vetting for its June 10 meeting a proposal to take 18 MHz of spectrum from incumbents as part of a final rule on the MMDS/ITFS spectrum allocation (CD May 26 p4). “The Commission cannot even consider the proposal that is presently before it without first providing the public with the notice and opportunity to comment mandated by Section 553 of the APA,” WCA said: “If the Commission adopts the proposal at this juncture, there is every reason to believe that appellate review would be sought and that the Commission’s creation of the new MDS channels for auction would be reversed.” WCA said the “litigation risk” of delay in the pending MDS/ITFS bandplan “is not worth taking.” Meanwhile, House Education Committee Chmn. Boehner (R-O.) wrote FCC Chmn. Powell to urge the Commission not to eliminate eligibility requirements for the ITFS spectrum. He said the spectrum should continue to be used for educational purposes. “I firmly believe that once the FCC adopts new technical rules for the ITFS it will provide elementary and secondary schools, community colleges and universities with expanded opportunities to provide innovative services including 2-way interactive video, document and data exchanges, video-on-demand, wide area networking, and high speed Internet access,” he said.

Groups that hold ITFS spectrum are seeking a last-minute meeting with FCC Chmn. Powell to head off a proposal that they give up 18 MHz of spectrum as part of a final rule on the MMDS/ITFS spectrum allocation, which is being circulated at the FCC for a possible June 10 vote. Sources in the ITFS community said Tues. they were caught off guard by the proposal that they give up bite size chunks of spectrum as part of the order.

The sale of 1.9 GHz spectrum to Nextel that’s a central part of the “consensus” rebanding plan would be a violation of the Administrative Procedure Act, Verizon Wireless argued in a filing at the FCC late Mon. “First, there is no rational way, apart from the standard auction process, for the Commission to estimate the value of the 1.9 GHz spectrum,” Verizon told the Commission. “Second, there is no rational way for the Commission to grant Nextel ‘replacement’ spectrum in exchange for paying public safety’s relocation costs, until the actual costs of rebanding are known.” Verizon also said the rebanding proposal would mark “an abrupt departure from the Commission’s past precedent… under which spectrum newcomers like Nextel must solve the interference problems they create.” Industry lobbying on the Nextel rebanding proposal remains heavy, with the question in play of whether Nextel will get 1.9 GHz spectrum, which it favors, or 2.1 GHz spectrum. Nextel and its opponents have had some high level meetings at the FCC in recent days. Among them, Nextel Pres. Timothy Donohue and CTIA Pres. Steve Largent each met with Chmn. Powell late last week.

Officials representing high-tech and wireless companies Wed. called on the FCC to allocate to promoters of wireless broadband services more low-frequency spectrum. The companies also said during an all-day FCC forum on the topic that resolving standardization issues will prove critical in coming months.