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NextWave Wireless offloaded a large swathe of spectrum, signing agreements with four operators to sell a portion of its AWS license portfolio. The sale represents 63 percent of its total AWS megahertz-pops, for a total of $150.1 million.

According to the company's 8-K filing with the SEC, AWS Wireless, the wholly owned subsidiary of NextWave, agreed to sell certain AWS licenses to T-Mobile for $97.5 million. The geographic areas covered by the licenses include markets in: Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, California, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. 

The company also entered into separate agreements to sell certain parts of its AWS licenses to each of Atlantic Wireless, ACS (Alaska) Wireless and MetroPCS. NextWave is selling AWS licenses to Atlantic, Alaska and MetroPCS for an aggregate consideration of $52.6 million. The geographic areas covered by the licenses include markets in Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, Ohio, Alaska, Georgia and Florida.

In all, the agreements call for NextWave to sell 599 million MHZ-pops of AWS spectrum at an average price of $0.25 per MHZ-pop. Pursuant to the terms of NextWave's 7 percent Senior Secured Notes, $75 million of the proceeds from the sale will be deposited into a restricted cash collateral account and $75 million will be used to redeem a portion of the Notes. After the sale, the company will possess 348 million MHz-pops of AWS spectrum primarily in New England, Florida and California. NextWave acquired all of its AWS licenses for a total of $115.5 million, or $0.12 per MHZ-pop, at an FCC auction held in 2006.

NextWave's remaining U.S. spectrum assets include 2.8 billion MHZ-pops of 2.3 GHz WCS spectrum, 972 million MHz-pops of 2.5 GHz BRS/EBS spectrum, and 348 million MHz-pops of AWS spectrum. In addition the company has 5.9 billion MHz-pops of spectrum in Europe, Canada, and South America. 

In April, NextWave announced that it had retained Deutsche Bank and UBS Investment Bank to sell its U.S. spectrum assets. The company has also retained Canaccord Adams to sell its Canadian spectrum assets.

For more:
- read this 8-K report

Related story:
NextWave selling big swathes of spectrum. NextWave story

The age-old debate over whether cell phones cause cancer has reared its ugly head again as Dr. Robert Herberman, director of the prominent University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, issued an unusual warning to some 3,000 faculty and staff, urging them to limit cell phone use because of the possible risk of cancer. The warning is contrary to several studies that have said no link exists between the two, but Herberman said he is raising the alarm because of early unpublished data, and it takes too long to obtain answers from science and believes people should act now, especially children.

"Really at the heart of my concern is that we shouldn't wait for a definitive study to come out, but err on the side of being safe rather than sorry later," Herberman told the AP. No other major academic cancer research institutions have issued such a warning.

For more:
- read AP

Related story:
Researchers disagree over cell phone safety findings. Cancer research story

Apple has released 3 new iPhone ads:

Video Ad #1 - Work Friendly

Video Ad #2 - Unslow

Video Ad #3 - Everyone

Check out FierceWireless:Europe's top 5 trends for the European wireless market. Article

The many bitter patent disputes between Qualcomm and Nokia have finally ended. The two telecom giants announced they have entered into a new 15-year patent agreement that effectively settles all litigation between the companies, including the withdrawal by Nokia of its complaint to the European Commission and numerous lawsuits filed in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Nokia filed a complaint with the EC in October 2005 with five other companies, which led to a flurry of lawsuits between Qualcomm and its rivals and several regulatory probes into Qualcomm's licensing practices. The two were also miles apart for some time when it came to renegotiating a new license agreement that expired in April 2007.

The new deal comes on the day Qualcomm and Nokia were to appear in a Delaware court to begin a key trial over WCDMA patents, but the judge had delayed the trial by a day. Nokia claimed Qualcomm charges too much for the patents. Nokia now has been granted a license under all of Qualcomm's patents for use in Nokia mobile devices and Nokia Siemens Networks infrastructure equipment. The agreement covers a number of technology standards, including GSM, EDGE, CDMA, WCDMA, HSDPA, OFDM, WiMAX, LTE and others. Nokia also agreed not to use any of its patents directly against Qualcomm, enabling Qualcomm to integrate Nokia's technology into Qualcomm's chipsets. 

The financial structure of the settlement includes an up-front payment and on-going royalties payable to Qualcomm.  Nokia has agreed to assign ownership of a number of patents to Qualcomm, including patents declared as essential to WCDMA, GSM and OFDMA. The specific terms, however, are confidential.

Qualcomm investors breathed a sigh of relief, pushing the company's shares up 18.7 percent in after-hours trading.

Qualcomm delayed the release of its fiscal third-quarter results for several hours to announce the agreement with Nokia. The company's profits fell 6 percent to $748 million, or 45 cents a share, for the three months ended June 29, down from $798 million, or 47 cents a share, the previous year. Revenue grew 19 percent to $2.76 billion from $2.33 billion.

For more:
- read AP
- see this release

Related stories:
Nokia gains patent victory over Qualcomm in Germany. Nokia patent story
Nokia, Qualcomm head to court this week over CDMA patents. Nokia/Qualcomm story
Qualcomm-Nokia lawsuits continue to fly. Lawsuit story
Nokia sues Qualcomm in Europe. Nokia-Qualcomm story