
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, September 15, 1995                   TAG: 9509150069
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

FCC SET TO AUCTION PIECES OF U.S. SKY

Federal regulators cleared the way Thursday for slices of the airwaves to be auctioned for a variety of mobile services, including phones, paging and messaging.

The Federal Communications Commission adopted rules that would for the first time allow companies to acquire ``specialized mobile radio'' licenses by bidding on them. The licenses have previously been awarded by lottery.

The FCC plans to begin auctioning 1,020 licenses on Nov 28. It will be the most licenses the FCC has ever auctioned at one time, officials said.

Past FCC auctions of different licenses have generated about $9 billion for the Treasury.

Advances in technology are expanding the types of services a company holding a specialized mobile radio license can offer. For years, the companies holding the licenses primarily provided dispatch services to trucking, taxi and other companies. Now they can offer more sophisticated voice and data transmission services.

The more licenses - and slices of the airwaves - a company wins rights to, the more flexibility it has in the type and geographic scope of services it can provide.

Companies holding specialized mobile radio licenses would be able to offer many of the same services as companies holding narrow-band personal communications licenses. The FCC began auctioning those licenses last year. What distinguishes the two types of licenses are the frequencies, equipment and technology used.

The FCC plans to auction 20 10-channel licenses in each of 51 regional markets.Those licenses cover a much larger geographic area than currently permitted and include top markets - Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Seattle and Tampa, Fla. - where some licenses have already been awarded by lottery.

Existing license holders like Geotek Communications Inc., would be permitted to bid on licenses. The Montvale, N.J., company provides dispatch services to courier and other companies and plans to bid for more licenses, said Michael Hirsch, a vice president.

Special preferences will be given to small businesses to encourage their participation in the auction.

Businesses with less than $3 million in annual revenues are entitled to a 15 percent discount off a winning bid and companies with $3 million to $15 million in revenues would get a 10 percent discount.

by CNB