NEWS Report No. WT 97-19          WIRELESS TELECOM ACTION                    April 28,
1997 

        WIRELESS BUREAU ANNOUNCES CONDITIONAL GRANT OF BROADBAND
        PERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES IN THE D, E AND F BLOCKS
                                    
     Today the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau conditionally granted 1,271 Basic Trading
Area (BTA) licenses in the broadband Personal Communications Services (PCS) D, E, and F
blocks.  
The grant of these licenses will introduce new competition into the wireless marketplace, and
provide
potential competition for wireline services as well.  It is anticipated that D, E, and F block
licensees
will provide wireless telephony, data, advanced paging, and other services, and will help foster
new
services such as wireless Internet access and wireless local loop, which enables telephone
subscribers
to use wireless facilities for basic telephone service.

     The license grants are conditioned upon grantees making payment on their winning bids by
May 12, 1997.  Grantees in the D and E blocks must pay the full balance of their winning bids,
while
grantees in the F block, which was licensed as an entrepreneurs' block, must pay the balance of
the
20 percent down payment on their bids.  At this time, 208 licenses in the D, E, and F blocks
remain
pending due to the filing of petitions to deny or other issues.  The Wireless Bureau will be taking
action to address these applications in the near future. 

     The D, E, and F block auction began on August 26, 1996 and closed on January 14, 1997
after 276 rounds of simultaneous, multiple-round bidding.  Each block consists of 493 BTA
licenses
for 10 MHz spectrum blocks.  The total amount bid by winning bidders in the three blocks was
$2,517,439,565.   The conditional grants made today will result in the U.S. Treasury receiving
approximately $1,242,406,000 in payments.  Additional payments will occur when the remaining
applications are resolved and in installment payments by F block licensees.

     The D, E, and F block auction included the largest number of licenses to date that the
Commission has auctioned at one time.  Previously, the Commission licensed the broadband
PCS A
and B blocks, each of which consisted of 30 MHz blocks of spectrum licensed in 51 Major
Trading
Areas, and the C block, which consisted of 30 MHz licensed in 493 BTAs to entrepreneurs and
small
businesses.    

     Action by Public Notice (DA 97-883).

                                  - FCC -


     News Media contact:  Audrey Spivack at (202) 418-0654. 
     Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, Commercial Wireless Division, contact:  Laura Smith
or Rhonda Lien at (202) 418-7240.

                                  - FCC -