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                            Before the
                Federal Communications Commission
                      Washington, D.C. 20554

In the Matter of                )
                                )
KENNETH STANTON MERIN           )
                                )
AND                             )
                                )  File No. CWD 96-12
MARY PAT HOGAN MERIN            )
                                )
Request for Waiver of Section 22.945 of the )
Commission's Rules Prohibiting Cross-Ownership)
as it may apply to their pending Block A )
applications for Cellular Radiotelephone Service )
in the Rural Service Areas      )


                             ORDER


   Adopted:  March 26, 1998             Released:  March 26, 1998

By the Acting Chief, Commercial Wireless Division, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau:

1.   In this Order, we grant Kenneth Stanton Merin (Merin) and Mary Pat Hogan Merin's (Hogan) Waiver
Request of section 22.945 of the Commission's Rules that prohibits any single individual from holding an
"ownership interest" in more than one cellular Rural Service Area (RSA) application for the same market. 
Hogan owns a 10% general partnership interest in Alpha Cellular Telephone Co. (Alpha). Alpha filed cellular
applications in each of the 428 RSAs.  Merin also filed cellular applications in each of the 428 RSAs. 
Although married to each other when the applications were filed, neither Hogan nor Merin held any interest
in the applications filed by or on behalf of the other.

2.   On April 13, 1992, the Superior Court of New Jersey Chancery Division granted Hogan and Merin
a divorce.  The court ordered Hogan to divide into equal shares her partnership interest in the Alpha assets,
including Alpha's cellular RSA licenses and pending RSA applications.  Hogan filed a Petition for Declaratory
Ruling with the Commission to determine whether Merin's ownership interests in two applications for the same
market violated section 22.921 of the Commission's Rules.  The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau ruled
that Merin's ownership interests in two RSA applications would violate the Commission's rules. 
Subsequently, Hogan and Merin filed the Joint Waiver Request.

3.   Section 22.119 permits a waiver of a Part 22 rule upon a showing that (a) the underlying purpose of
the rule would not be served or would be frustrated, and that grant of the waiver would be in the public interest;
or (b) the unique and unusual factual circumstances of the case render application of the rule inequitable,
unduly burdensome or contrary to the public interest, or the applicant has no reasonable alternative.  The
Commission adopted section 22.945 to prevent applicants from skewing lotteries in their favor by receiving
cumulative chances to win.

4.   In this case, neither Hogan nor Merin was in violation of section 22.945 of the Commission's Rules
when their applications were filed.  Merin's ownership interest in more than one cellular RSA application for
the same market resulted not by any action on Merin's part but from a decision of a state court seeking to
equitably divide the marital assets in a divorce.  Granting a waiver in such circumstances allows the court
to divide the marital assets in the manner it deems most equitable without being constrained by the fact that
the Commission's cross-ownership rules would effectively render the Alpha applications worthless in the
absence of a waiver.  Accordingly, we find the unique and unusual factual circumstances of the case render
application of the rule inequitable, unduly burdensome, and contrary to the public interest.

5.   Thus, IT IS ORDERED, that pursuant to section 4(i) of the Communications Act of 1934, as
amended, 47 U.S.C.  154(i) and section 22.119 of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R.  22.119, the Request
for Rule Waiver filed by Kenneth Stanton Merin and Mary Pat Hogan Merin on June 7, 1996,  IS GRANTED.  This action is taken pursuant to delegated authority under section 0.331 of the Commission's
Rules, 47 C.F.R.  0.331.

                              FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

                              

                              Steven E. Weingarten
                              Acting Chief, Commercial Wireless Division
                              Wireless Telecommunications Bureau