WASHINGTON-Unlike most of the other auctions sanctioned by the Federal Communications Commission, the sale of 14 unserved cellular areas concluded Jan. 21 with no fanfare after 35 rounds and only $1.8 million in net revenues.
The unserved areas, located in 11 states, originally were included in metropolitan statistical areas and rural service areas won by cellular lottery applicants in the early 1980s; these lottery winners had five years to expand their systems into the areas and when they did not, for whatever reason, the commission reclaimed the licenses.
“The commission has once again proven that auctions are the fastest, fairest and most efficient way to get licenses into the hands of parties that value them most highly,” commented Michele Farquhar, chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau.
Paying $1 million for Wyoming 1 and Montana 8, which border Yellowstone National Park, was Metacomm Cellular Partners. Western Wireless Corp. paid $195,000 for Nebraska 2, $100 for Nevada 4, $6,000 for Wyoming 3 and $295,000 for Nebraska 8. Other winners include:
N.E. Colorado Cellular Inc., $242,000 for Colorado 5;
Oregon RSA #3 L.P., $37,000 for Oregon 3;
Triad Cellular L.P., $30,000 for New Mexico 2;
Cumberland Cellular Partnership, $11,000 for Maryland MSA;
Constance L. Pollard/ETA Trust Partnership, $7,100 for California 6;
Christel Anderson/CHI L.P., $5,301 for New Mexico 1;
Coconino Arizona RSA L.P., Arizona 2; and
Ted M. Peters/Epsilon Trust Partnership, $10 for Hawaii 2.
Western Wireless had been a player in the C-block auction as a partner of Cook Inlet Wireless Inc. and was successful in gaining 13 licenses; the company also manages more than 50 RSA cellular properties.
Triad Cellular, also a C-block PCS player, came away with nothing during that battle.
Metacomm Cellular Partners owns a number of RSAs. Not much is known about the other unserved cellular auction winners at this time.
According to Western Wireless spokesman Ken Prussing, “We are very pleased with the results. This has filled out our footprint as these markets are adjacent to our current cellular properties.”
The company has no timeline yet for building out the properties.
