WASHINGTON-Omnipoint Corp., Leap Wireless International Inc. and Cook Inlet/VoiceStream
PCS could be among the top bidders for the March 23 re-auction of 356 C-, D-, E- and F-block personal
communications services licenses.
The Federal Communications Commission last week accepted 52 applications as
complete and rejected three applications. Upfront payments of qualified bidders are due today.
Fifty applicants had
their applications returned because they were incomplete. One of the 50 is Eliska Wireless Inc., a start-up funded by
Powertel Inc. Eliska and others have until March 3 to correct errors and make upfront payments.
It will be important
for Global System for Mobile communications operators to land licenses in Chicago and Dallas to enhance their
technology footprint in the United States.
Because bidders sometimes file for auctions under odd names, the
identities of other bidders were not immediately clear last week.
The re-auction (134 15-megahertz blocks and 208
30-megahertz C-block licenses; three 10-megahertz D-block licenses; six 10-megahertz E-block licenses; and five 10
megahertz F-block licenses) stems in part from financial problems encountered by bidders in the original sale of the
licenses. The prices bid in the re-auction are expected to be lower this time around.
