Report WT 98-17 WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACTION  June 15, 1998

                                 
         WTB DENIES FOUR PETITIONS TO DENY FILED AGAINST
              WINNING BIDDERS IN 800 MHz SMR AUCTION
                                 

     Today the Wireless Telecommunication Bureau denied four Petitions to Deny filed against
the applications of winning bidders in the 800 MHz Specialized Mobile Radio (SMR) Auction
(Auction No. 16).  The auction, which was completed on December 8, 1997, assigned 523 SMR
licenses in 175 different Economic Areas throughout the country and raised over $ 96 million for
the U.S. Treasury.  The Bureau action, completed within three months of the close of the pleading
cycle for the petitions, clears the way for granting the applications for 491 licenses and allows the
licensees to begin the process of bringing service to the market. 

     In four separate Orders, the Bureau denied three petitions filed against Nextel License
Acquisition Corporation and one filed against Nevada Wireless.  In denying the petition of IE
Communication Inc. against Nextel, the Bureau found that Nextel did not act anti-competitively
or in collusion with any other bidders during the 800 MHz SMR auction.  The Bureau found that
allegations made by Norcom Communications that Nextel had misrepresented Commission policy,
even if correct, did not provide grounds for denying Nextel's applications.  The Bureau also found
that a Petition to Deny was not the proper venue for One Source Communication's complaint
related to Nextel's resale practices.  Finally, the Bureau found that Nextel had not adequately
demonstrated any auction-based collusion in its Petition to Deny Nevada Wireless's applications. 
With the denial of these petitions, the Bureau may now grant Nextel's application for 475 licenses
and Nevada Wireless's application for 16 licenses.

                              -FCC-

     News Media contact:  Meribeth McCarrick at (202) 418-0654
     Wireless Telecommunications Bureau contact:  David Krech, Donald Johnson 
     or Christopher Gacek at (202) 418-7240.