June 23, 1995 FCC GRANTS 99 LICENSES FOR BROADBAND PERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES IN MAJOR TRADING AREAS A new era in wireless telecommunications began today as the FCC granted 99 broadband Personal Communications Services (PCS) licenses to applicants in the 2 GHz "A" and "B" blocks. Each license is for a 30 MHz spectrum block in one of 51 Major Trading Areas. The applicants awarded these licenses today will provide consumers with a wide range of innovative new telecommunications services, including wireless telephony and mobile data offerings. Broadband PCS will also allow consumers and businesses the opportunity to choose among several competing suppliers of wireless phone service. The FCC offered the A and B block licenses in an auction that began on December 5, 1994 and ended on March 13, 1995. The auction netted more than $7.7 billion for the American taxpayer, and is the largest auction in history according to The Guiness Book of World Records. In addition, the speed with which these licenses have been granted is unprecedented for a major new telecommunications service. The entire licensing process, from the filing of applications by auction winners to license grant, has taken 83 days. This represents very significant increase in speed in comparison to the initial licensing of cellular telephone service, which was accomplished through hearings and lotteries and took an average of 471 days for each authorization. In addition, all 99 PCS licenses are being issued at the same time, whereas cellular licenses were issued over a period of time. Thus, the FCC has made it possible for PCS to be offered from the outset in all parts of the country instead of limiting introduction of service to particular major markets. "Our ability to rapidly put PCS licenses in the hands of the service providers is a direct result of the auction process, in combination with stream-lined licensing procedures," said Regina M. Keeney, Chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. "We are demonstrating this agency's commitment to providing newer and better services for consumers through the introduction of strong new competitors into the market for commercial mobile services," she said. The FCC was given authority by Congress in 1993 to auction wireless communications licenses, which had previously been given away for free through lotteries. Auctions ensure that licenses are received by those who value them the most and provides the public with a fair return for this valuable public resource. This was the fourth FCC auction for wireless communications services, but the first for broadband PCS. Licensees include a number of cable, wireline telephone, and cellular telephone company consortia, including WirelessCo, L.P. (Sprint, TeleCommunications, Inc., Cox Cable, and Comcast Telephony), PCS PRIMECO, L.P. (Bell Atlantic Personal Communications Inc., NYNEX PCS, Inc., AirTouch Communications, Inc, and U.S.West, Inc.) and AT & T Wireless. Licensees have already made a 20% down payment on their licenses, and must now remit their final payments within five business days of the license grants. The new licensees can start building their systems immediately. New services are expected to be available within one year. The FCC requires broadband PCS licensees to make their services available to one-third of the population in their service area within five years and to two-thirds within 10 years. --FCC-- News Media Contact: Stacey Reuben Mesa at (202) 418-0654 Wireless Telecommunications Contact: Irene Longin (202) 418-1301 or Rita Cookmeyer at (202) 418-0434