NextWave seeks to sell its WiMAX holdings for billions

In a decision based partly on results of the 700 MHz wireless auction, NextWave Wireless now wants to sell billions of dollars in spectrum holdings while continuing with its plan to produce LTE and WiMAX gear for other operators.

In a move that sent its stock price soaring on Wall Street this week, NextWave Wireless announced late Wednesday that it had hired Deutsche Bank and UBS to help with the sale of its holdings in spectrum that potentially reach 85 percent of the US population.

The operator's holdings encompass the 2.5 GHz spectrum, where Sprint Nextel also has huge holdings, as well as 2.3 GHz WCS and 1.7/2.1 GHz BRS/EBS spectrum, said Roy Berger, executive VP at NextWave, in an interview today with BetaNews.

If the sky-high pricing levels of the 700 MHz auction keep holding up, NextWave's current holdings carry an estimated worth of about $6 billion.

"The first thing that happened [after the 700 MHz auctions] was that our phones started ringing with offers," contended NextWave's Berger.

But that's not the only reason why NextWave wants to sell its wireless holdings, according to Berger, who pointed to profitability and future plans around his company's current product line-up as other big factors.

"We've had great profitability in our packet video subsidiary," he said. That subsidiary produces devices embedded with mobile video for mobile operators.

NextWave is also now sampling the second generation of its chip set, which is designed for "seamless interoperability" on the WiMAX 4G wireless broadband specification across all three spectrum ranges in the company's current holdings.

The company originally planned to use the chipset and an accompanying product suite on its own wireless networks, while also selling them to other operators. "But we no longer see [holding our own spectrum] as strategic or necessary," according to Berger. "The next major step for our chip set will be to support both LTE and WiMAX."

Verizon Wireless will pay $9.36 billion as a result of the 700 MHz auction for a nationwide spectrum (with the exception of Alaska) in the C block, along with 102 licenses for individual markets around the country. VZW's spectrum will be used for an LTE 4G network, to be developed over the next couple of years.

AT&T has also been buying up large chunks of 700 MHz spectrum for its own planned LTE network.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story referred to "Spectrum Wireless," which is actually a different company altogether. That's a manufacturer of wireless IP routers. Actually, we meant to be referring to "NextWave Wireless," and that's the company with whose executive BetaNews had the interview. We sincerely regret this error, and have made appropriate corrections above.