NEWSReport No. WT 95-4              WIRELESS TELECOM ACTION        March 9, 1995

             FCC PROCESSES 40,000 800 MHZ SMR APPLICATIONS 

    The FCC has processed more than 40,000 800 MHz Specialized Mobile Radio (SMR)
license applications.  Four thousand five hundred and fifty six new licenses were granted. 
An industry gift of computer hardware and software that aids in coordinating frequencies and
assuring appropriate mileage separations between base stations helped to speed the processing
time.

    "This is a significant milestone for the FCC," said Chairman Reed Hundt.  "It is a
great example of how industry and the FCC can and do work together to get the job done
and get it done fast.   As we reinvent government at the FCC, we can improve customer
service through cooperative efforts such as this one."

    An influx of SMR applications began in November 1993 as advanced technology
made possible a new generation of wide area SMR systems.  The deluge of applications
resulted in a processing backlog.  In 1994, the Commission froze the application process.

    In January, the FCC began to process the backlog of more than 40,000 applications
using computer hardware, software, and personnel donated by an industry trade coalition that
included the American Mobile Telecommunications Association (AMTA), Industrial
Telecommunications Association (ITA), Council of Independent Communications Suppliers
(CICS), and the National Association of Business and Educational Radio (NABER).

    Regina Keeney, Chief of the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, said, "I
applaud the industry coalition for its contribution to this effort and congratulate the Bureau's
Licensing Division in Gettysburg.  They worked around-the-clock to process the applications
and grant the licenses."

    Traditionally, SMR licensees have been used by private companies for dispatch
services such as those used by taxi drivers.  With new digital technology, SMRs may soon
be competing with cellular and other mobile service providers.

    The industry gift was accepted under the FCC's statutory gift authority, 47 U.S.C.
154(g)(3), which permits the FCC to accept unconditional gifts, donations, and bequests in
furtherance of its regulatory functions.

    A Public Notice announcing the license grants will be issued next week.

 -FCC-
                                    
    News Media Contact:  Stacey Reuben Mesa at (202) 418-0654