LWIN (not Lewinsky) on the move:
Tuesday October 13, 7:31 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Leap Wireless International, Inc.
Leap Wireless International Files Application with FCC to Make $19.45
Million Spectrum Acquisition in the United States
SAN DIEGO, Oct. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Wireless communications carrier Leap Wireless International, Inc. (Nasdaq: LWIN - news) today announced that a wholly
owned subsidiary of the company has filed an assignment application with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to make a spectrum acquisition in the
United States. Leap Wireless has agreed to pay AirGate Wireless, L.L.C. $19.45 million for a 10 MHz F Block license covering 3.27 million potential customers
(POPs) in the cities of Charlotte, Greensboro and Hickory, N.C., and Greenwood, S.C. As part of the application process, Leap Wireless has applied to qualify for
''designated entity'' status, which entitles small businesses to preferential pricing and payment terms when acquiring PCS frequency in the C and F blocks. Leap
Wireless signed its agreement with AirGate on September 24, 1998, and submitted its license agreement to the FCC on October 5, 1998. Leap Wireless expects
the license to be transferred during the next 120 days.
''In the United States and selected other parts of the world, we believe there is a strong potential for a combined Wireless Local Loop (WLL) limited mobility
service targeted to the mass consumer market,'' said Harvey P. White, chairman and CEO of Leap Wireless. ''This is the first step towards determining the potential
of this market, and we will continue to look at opportunities to acquire additional spectrum in the future.''
AirGate Wireless is a telecommunications company founded by a group of wireless industry professionals and entrepreneurs. AirGate Wireless acquired F block
licenses for the Charlotte, Greensboro, Hickory-Lenoir and Greenwood Basic Trading Areas (BTAs) in the FCC's D, E, and F block PCS auction. On July 22,
1998, AirGate Wireless entered into a long-term agreement to be the exclusive Sprint PCS affiliate manager in 20 BTAs that include Rocky Mount,
Greenville-Washington, Roanoke Rapids, Goldsboro-Kinston, Jacksonville, New Bern, Wilmington, Hickory, Asheville and the Outer Banks, N.C.; Columbia,
Charleston, Myrtle Beach, Greenville-Spartanburg, Anderson, Sumter, Florence, Orangeburg, Greenwood, S.C.; and Augusta and Savannah, Ga. AirGate Wireless'
strategic financial partners are the San Francisco-based venture capital firms of Weiss, Peck & Greer Venture Partners and JAFCO America Ventures.
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