In Brief

Originally among the group that became Verizon Wireless, PrimeCo (www.primeco.com) has new ownership. FCC (www.fcc.gov) rules prohibit one carrier to operate multiple licenses in a single market. PrimeCo licenses overlapped with those of Ameritech Cellular, so Verizon (www.verizonwireless.com) had to give up the company. A group of investors now owns the Chicago-based carrier that holds 20MHz of PCS spectrum.

British Telecom (BT; www.bt.com) tabbed MapInfo (www.mapinfo.com) to provide a location-based application to the carrier's field engineers. The application allows BT's 17,000 field service engineers to enter a location and then access maps of the network relevant to that location.

Rural Cellular Corporation (RCC; www.ruralcellular.com) sold PCS licenses covering four southern Oregon BTAs to Verizon Wireless (www.verizonwireless.com). Barring regulatory rejection, the deal is expected to close in the second half of 2001. Financial terms were not disclosed, but the revenue will help reduce RCC's debt.