August 18, 1995
     
                                            WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS BUREAU CHIEF REGINA KEENEY
     AND FCC GENERAL COUNSEL WILLIAM KENNARD
     REAFFIRM COMMITMENT TO MOVE FORWARD
     EXPEDITIOUSLY WITH BROADBAND PCS "C BLOCK" AUCTION 
        
              FCC Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Chief Regina Keeney and FCC
     General Counsel William Kennard today reaffirmed the Commission's commitment to
     move forward with the broadband Personal Communications Services (PCS) "C
     Block" auction as expeditiously as possible after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
     D.C. Circuit rules on a challenge to the auction rules.  
     
              Keeney and Kennard emphasize that the expeditious auctioning and licensing
     of  C Block licenses remains one of the Commission's top priorities.  "We are
     confident that the Commission will prevail on the merits in this litigation," they said,
     "and we will have the auction back on track as soon as the court rules on this
     matter."  
     
              Several rule provisions pertaining to the C Block auction, which was scheduled
     for August 29, are the subject of  litigation in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C.
     Circuit.  The court has ordered an expedited briefing schedule for the case.  Oral
     arguments are scheduled for September 28.
     
              The C Block auction will be a significant opportunity for small businesses and
     new entrants to participate in the communications marketplace, Keeney and Kennard
     observe.  They note that new entrants in the PCS service will provide an important
     source of competition in the wireless arena.    
     
                                     -FCC-
     
     News Media contact: Stacey Reuben Mesa at (202) 418-0654.
     Wireless Telecommunications Bureau contact: Amy Zoslov at (202) 418-0660.