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Technology Stocks : Leap Wireless International (LWIN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: SKIP PAUL who wrote (593)	11/6/1999 6:55:00 PM
From: Lance Bredvold	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 2737

"Also, LWIN is the only public company eligible under FCC rules to acquire other "designated entities" that won spectrum in the recent auction" I've been wondering about this. Have any of you read the FCC rules closely enough to determine whether LWIN, now that it has loosened its ties to Q and been determined a designated entity, retains that designation no matter how big they become? Posters have been regularly ascribing the price increase to takeover rumors which I have considered unlikely since there is no entity which I know of that can retain the designated entity status and also be large enough to take over LWIN. SBC, for example, would be far too large. Would they have to give up all the US licenses if they did buy controlling interest in Leap? I think so. But at some point (probably already passed) will LWIN lose the ability to acquire additional C through F licenses because of its size? Or worse yet (and unlikely I think) will they be unable to reapply for their existing licenses as a designated entity (thus paying a premium) when those licenses come up for renewal after another 9 years. Perhaps I'll do a little research on this if no one has an answer. Lance On edit, I realized that I sound like large companies cannot own the spectrum blocks due to their size according to FCC rules. I don't think that is true. There is a percentage bidding advantage given to designated entities but a larger company will be given spectrum if they are willing to pay the higher price. This may have some relevance, then, to the Nextel/Nextwave situation. That bidding advantage is significant on raw pops, but by the time systems are built out, the differences in cost for spectrum may well become almost insignificant.