IN OTHER NEWS...

* ALLTEL announced several acquisitions to expand its footprint to 22 states. ALLTEL purchased Aliant Communications' operations in Nebraska for $1.5 billion in stock. The carrier also acquired the Durango Cellular operations in Durango, CO, and BellSouth Cellular operations in Dothan, AL.

* SkyTel introduced Text-To-Voice, a service that allows 2-way messaging subscribers to send text messages from their pagers to any telephone in the country, using text-to-speech technology to read the message to the recipient.

* Omnipoint announced several deals that provide as much as $375 million in financing. The carrier will receive up to $200 million from Siemens, $50 million from Nortel Networks and a $125 million unsecured loan.

* TSR Wireless, the Las Vegas police department and several other Nevada agencies implemented TraSeR, a missing-persons-recovery program. TSR Wireless will send missing-person bulletins and descriptions to law enforcement agencies, area casinos and other companies, and subscribers taking part in the program to aid in the recovery effort.

* Bell Atlantic Mobile (BAM) and Crown Castle International formed a joint-venture company operated by Crown Castle to own, operate and lease BAM's wireless tower space. BAM contributed more than 1,400 existing towers valued at $650 million, and will own 37.7% of the new company.

* TeleCorp PCS, an affiliate of AT&T Wireless, signed a 5-year customer contract with Convergys to provide customer-care functions in English and Spanish. Services include telesales, activation, billing inquiries and technical assistance.

* Nokia signed a definitive agreement to acquire Vienna Systems, a privately held IP-telephony company, for about $90 million. Vienna Systems designs and manufactures hardware and software products for the distribution of voice, fax and video communications over IP networks, including intranets and the public Internet.

* CenturyTel selected SCC Communications to implement wireless E-911 service in selected communications districts. SCC will collect and prepare database information for the service and also coordinate with public-safety answering points, existing LECs and E-911 network providers.

* Triton PCS selected Lightbridge to provide integrated solutions for customer activation, retail management and fraud prevention. The solutions allow Triton to activate new subscribers and provide front-end detection of subscription fraud.

* TSR Wireless and Omnipoint donated airtime and PCS phones to the Toys for Tots campaign to use in collecting and distributing toys to underprivileged children through the holiday season. Carrier stores served as drop-off points for toys for the campaign.

As many as 342 PCS licenses will be open to bids on March 23, when the FCC calls to order round two of the C-block auction. Although some are for previously unlicensed frequencies, more than two-thirds of the total consist of now-cancelled licenses or those returned to the commission.

FCC spokesperson Maribeth McCarrick said the FCC currently is reviewing comments submitted by carriers on auction procedural issues. An initial list of C-block auction participants will be released once the commission completes its review.

Details on the auction are available at www.fcc.gov/wtb/auctions/auc22/auc22.html.

Nearly 50 million people will use wireless e-mail and 4.4 million will adopt wireless Internet services by 2004, a Strategis Group study predicts. Although most traffic currently consists of business-related activities, consumer-sector use should boom as e-mail and wireless devices gain mass-market acceptance.

Vendors and carriers are developing potential value-added services and ways to increase airtime usage. Devices such as the Nokia 9000 communicator and Qualcomm's pdQ smartphone are the first step. More affordable 2-way e-mail devices should become available in the near future that offer greater mass-market appeal.

FCC rules and guidelines (Title 47; Section 17) pertaining to towers and antennas stipulate that carriers must meet certain obligations. Requirements include:

1. Any carrier with a tower or antenna exceeding 200 feet in height or generally located within five miles of an airport must register the structure with the FCC.

2. The antenna structure's registration number must be displayed conspicuously near its base.

3. Structures exceeding 200 feet in height or those that the commission determines could impair the safety of air navigation must satisfy lighting and painting requirements. Specific requirements for different tower structures can be found in section 17.53, "Lighting Equipment and Paint."

4. Tower owners are responsible for periodic inspections to ensure that lights remain functional from sunset to sunrise. Computer-controlled devices, such as automatic monitoring and control systems for antenna structure lighting, must be inspected every three months to ensure functionality.

Registration forms can be obtained from the CIB Bureau of the FCC. I nformation on tower registration and other requirements is available at: www.fcc.gov/cib/Public_Notices/da982408.html.