During the court proceedings, the FCC rejected repeated offers by NextWave to end the wrangling and pay its remaining debt as part of its bankruptcy reorganization. In a move that caught the industry off-guard, the FCC decided in January 2000 that NextWaves licenses had "automatically canceled" in 1998. At the end of 2000, in the midst of an uncertain legal environment, the FCC decided to reauction the licenses and took bids of approximately $16 billion from the major wireless carriers, including Verizon Communications Inc.