**Before the**

**Federal Communications Commission**

**Washington, D.C. 20554**

)

In the Matter of )

)

United States Cellular Corporation ) File No. CWD 98-99

)

Request for Waiver of )

Section 22.942 )

of the Commission's Rules )

**ORDER**

**Adopted:** November 16, 1999 **Released:** November 16, 1999

By the Chief, Commercial Wireless Division, Wireless Telecommunications
Bureau:

1 On May 11, 1998, United States Cellular Corporation (USCC) filed a
request for waiver of section 22.942 of the Commission\'s rules, 47
C.F.R. § 22.942.[^1] USCC seeks a waiver of the limitation on cellular
licensees holding interests in other cellular licensees in an
overlapping cellular geographic service area (CGSA). According to USCC,
as a consequence of the settlement of litigation with AirTouch, USCC has
*de minimis* non-controlling ownership interests in the B-block
licensees in eight cellular markets where is has the controlling
interest in the A-block licensee.[^2] USCC requests a waiver of section
22.942 so that it may retain its ownership interests in the B-block
licensees in those markets.[^3]

2 At the time that USCC filed its waiver request, section 22.942
prohibited "a licensee, a person that owns a controlling interest in a
licensee, or a person that actually controls the licensee for one
channel block in a CGSA from having any direct or indirect ownership
interest in the licensee, a person that owns a controlling interest in a
licensee, or a person that actually controls a licensee for the other
channel block in an overlapping CGSA."[^4] The Commission recently
amended section 22.942 "to allow a party with a controlling or otherwise
attributable interest in one of the cellular licensees to have a
non-controlling or otherwise non-attributable direct or indirect
ownership of up to five percent in the other cellular licensee in the
CGSA."[^5] The new rule went into effect on November 8, 1999.[^6]

3 According to USCC, USCC and its parent company, Telephone and Data
Systems (TDS), together hold American Depository Shares in Vodaphone
AirTouch Plc (Vodaphone AirTouch) that amount to approximately a 0.42
percent non-controlling interest in Vodaphone AirTouch, the B-block
licensee in the eight markets at issue.[^7] This ownership interest is
below the 5 percent level set in the amended section 22.942. Therefore
USCC is in compliance with the rule at this time, and no longer requires
a waiver of the rule to retain its current ownership in the B-block
licensees in those markets.[^8] Consequently, we dismiss the USCC waiver
request.

4 Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that pursuant to sections 1, 2, and 4(i),
of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. §§ 151, 152,
and 154(i), and section 0.331 of the Commission's rules, 47 U.S.C. §
0.331, the request for waiver of section 22.942 of the Commission's
rules filed by the United States Cellular Corporation is DISMISSED.

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

Steven E. Weingarten

Chief, Commercial Wireless Division

Wireless Telecommunications Bureau

[^1]: Letter from Alan Y. Naftalin, counsel for USCC, to Dan Phythyon,
    FCC, dated May 11, 1998 (*May 11, 1998 Letter*).

[^2]: The eight markets are: California Rural Service Areas (RSAs) 1 and
    2, Iowa RSAs 1, 2, 7, and 10, the Des Moines, Iowa Metropolitan
    Statistical Area (MSA), and Washington RSA 4. *See id*. at 2.

[^3]: On August 28, 1998, the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau issued
    a Public Notice seeking comment on the USCC waiver request. Wireless
    Telecommunications Bureau Seeks Comment on United States Cellular
    Corporation Request for Waiver of Section 22.942 of the Commission's
    Rules, *Public Notice*, DA 98-1715 (rel. Aug. 28, 1998). No comments
    were filed .

[^4]: 47 C.F.R. § 22.942 (1998)

[^5]: *See* 1998 Biennial Regulatory Review -- Spectrum Aggregation
    Limits for Wireless Telecommunications Carriers, WT Docket 98-205,
    *Report and Order*, FCC 99-224, (rel. Sep. 21, 1999) ¶ 74.

[^6]: *See* 64 Fed. Reg. 54564 (Oct. 7, 1999).

[^7]: *See* letter from Peter M. Connolly, counsel for USCC, to Thomas
    Sugrue, FCC, filed in File No. CWD 98-99, dated Sep. 8, 1999 at 3.
    At the time that USCC filed its waiver request, prior to the merger
    of Vodaphone and AirTouch, USCC and TDS together held common shares
    of AirTouch that amounted to approximately a 0.90 percent
    non-controlling interest in AirTouch. *See May 11, 1998 Letter* at
    2.

[^8]: *See* letter from Peter M. Connolly, counsel for USCC, to Steven
    E. Weingarten, FCC, filed in File No. CWD 98-99, dated Oct. 4, 1999
    (when the amended section 22.942 become effective USCC will no
    longer require a waiver and the pending waiver request can be
    dismissed as moot). Of course, if USCC were to increase its
    ownership level to greater than 5 percent, it would no longer be in
    compliance with section 22.942 and would need to either divest to
    come into compliance or to seek a waiver of the rule.