NEWS                                     [internet file name: nrwl4026.txt]
Report No. DC- 2686        ACTION IN DOCKET CASE          November 23, 1994

DISMISSAL OF LA STAR CELLULAR APPLICATION FOR NEW ORLEANS AFFIRMED
                            (CC DOCKET 90-257)

     The Commission has reaffirmed its dismissal of the application of La Star Cellular
Telephone Company to construct a  cellular telephone system on the wireline block  to serve
New Orleans, LA.  

     The Commission found  that La Star was ineligible to  operate a system on the wireline
block in this market.

     The Commission took its action pursuant to a decision by a federal appellate court
vacating and remanding the FCC's prior decision dismissing La Star's application.

     La Star is a joint venture owned 51 percent by SJI Cellular and 49 percent by Star
Cellular Telephone Co.  SJI's parent company, SJI, Inc., also owns a telephone company
serving a portion of the New Orleans MSA.  SJI is therefore eligible to apply for the wireline
block in the New Orleans MSA.  By contrast, neither Star's parent company, United States
Cellular Company (USCC), nor USCC's parent, Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (TDS), is
eligible to  apply for the wireline block in New Orleans.  The Commission found that USCC,
not SJI, controls La Star, making La Star ineligible. 

     On March 29, 1994, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
vacated and remanded the Commission's decision.  The court held that it was unable to
determine whether the Commission's analysis was consistent with precedent and ruled that the
Commission did not adequately explain why it did not analyze the facts of this case by using the
standards set forth in the Intermountain Microwave case.  The court also found that the
Commission's analysis of the control issue in this case was inconsistent with that in the Ellis
Thompson Corp. case, which the Commission decided contemporaneously.

     The Commission said that the record, when analyzed in light of the Intermountain
criteria, continues to provide strong support for the conclusion that SJI, the wireline-eligible
entity, does not control La Star and that La Star is therefore ineligible for this authorization.

     Action by the Commission November 18, 1994, by Memorandum Opinion and Order
(FCC 94-299).  Chairman Hundt, Commissioners Quello, Barrett, Ness and Chong. 

                                  - FCC -
     News Media contact: Rosemary Kimball at (202) 418-0500.