1.   American trade negotiators offered to let foreign companies enter local telephone markets in the U.S. and to allow foreigners a bigger share of wireless licenses.

2.   And while Sprint has wireless licenses for the whole country, the company has not yet built an entire national system.

3.   Beyond the cost of wireless licenses, the big players are spending enormous sums acquiring existing carriers.

4.   Blu SpA, a consortium formed to bid for an Italian wireless license, had to withdraw from the auction because British Telecom could not contribute more capital.

5.   Beyond the cost of wireless licenses, the big companies are spending enormous amounts of money acquiring existing carriers.

6.   But Airtouch already has wireless licenses in Michigan and Ohio, two of the five Midwestern states where Ameritech operates.

7.   But to BellSouth, wireless licenses in the South are worth more than those elsewhere.

8.   By aggressively bidding for the new federal wireless licenses, they said, they will quickly expand to stretch from coast to coast.

9.   By giving out next-generation wireless licenses as quickly and cheaply as possible, government officials hope to promote and indirectly subsidize innovative new technology and services.

10.   Communications giants are scrambling to reshape their industry, driven by a federal deadline for bidders on new wireless licenses.