Verizon, Nextel End 15-Month Legal Feud

Verizon Wireless and Nextel Communications Inc. said Tuesday that they had resolved disputes over U.S. airwaves and trademark names, ending a 15-month legal battle between the mobile phone service providers.

Verizon Wireless, the second-largest U.S. mobile phone carrier, said it wouldn’t challenge a government decision to allow Nextel to swap airwaves worth as much as $4.86 billion.

In return, Reston, Va.-based Nextel will allow Verizon Wireless to use the push-to-talk name that it has used to promote Nextel service.

The agreement with Verizon Wireless removes one of the biggest obstacles Nextel faced in getting new airwaves to expand its service. Investors had been concerned that an agreement with U.S. regulators to swap airwaves that interfere with emergency frequencies would be tied up in the courts.

“It’s a very big positive for Nextel,” said Charles Ullerich, an analyst at ABN Amro Asset Management in Chicago. “Nextel has been constrained in some of its markets regarding spectrum.” Ullerich helps manage $1.2 billion in high-yield debt, including Nextel securities.

Shares of Nextel, the top seller of walkie-talkie mobile phone service, rose 81 cents to $26.90 on Nasdaq. Verizon Communications Inc., which owns Verizon Wireless with British-based Vodafone Group, rose 2 cents to $40 on the New York Stock Exchange.

“It’s time to move on,” Jim Gerace, a spokesman for Bedminster, N.J.-based Verizon Wireless said in an interview.

Verizon Wireless dropped its opposition to clear the way for the companies to work together on regulatory issues, Gerace said.