O’Brien Denies Ruining Public Safety Auction

Nextel co-founder and Cyren Call honcho Morgan O’Brien has issued a statement in which he vigorously denies the “false accusations” that he demanded a spectrum lease payment from possible network operators before the bidding began. “Furthermore, anyone suggesting that any spectrum lease payment would be paid to Cyren Call is lying,” he said. He said any contact between Cyren Call and potential operators was within the FCC’s rules and proper. He did say that he gave potential bidders an estimate of $50 million, “when asked about the spectrum lease payment likely to be requested by the PSST during the NSA negotiations.” However, he said that it was not a demand for “any kind of payment or suggested that this topic would not be subject to negotiation. Download (pdf) his entire statement here, and read some perspective here.