The Walnut Creek, California-based PacTel Corp subsidiary of Pacific Telesis Group Inc reports that McCaw Cellular Communications Inc has accepted its August 29 offer to combine the two companies’ San Francisco, San Jose, Dallas, Kansas City and adjacent cellular properties into a 99-year joint venture with 50% ownership by each company. The agreement reflects the fact that the Kirkland, Washington-based McCaw, 22%-owned by British Telecommunications Plc, accepts that it does not need 100% ownership everywhere in order to achieve its dream of a seamless pan-American cellular service. The proposed joint venture will manage two large cellular clusters, and, together with a related purchase by PacTel of McCaw’s Wichita and Topeka properties, cover 9.5m potential subscribers. However Celcom Inc, a 6% partner in the San Francisco-San Jose properties, has decided not immediately to accept the proposals made it and has raised legal challenges in correspondence with McCaw and PacTel. The partners expect to surmount the challenge, but formation of the joint venture is contingent on regulatory and other approvals, and closing is not expected until the second or the third quarter 1992.
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