21.   Frederic Salerno, the vice chairman of Nynex, cautioned that the companies had not made a final decision to shelve wireless cable.

22.   Grushow is still keeping his fingers crossed that the Baby Bells will forge ahead with wireless cable.

23.   He died after a brief illness, said Ed Robalisky, president of Gear Broadcasting, a subsidiary of Gear Telecommunications, a wireless cable operator in New England.

24.   However, they concede wireless cable is starting to look like a convenient compromise for rural communities.

25.   In an unrelated ruling on Thursday, the commission said it would hold an auction to allocate excess spectrum for so-called wireless cable services.

26.   In the last few years, wireless cable has emerged in isolated markets as a viable, cheaper alternative to traditional cable television.

27.   In the meantime, it has bought a wireless cable company, Cross-Country Wireless, to launch a service by year-end.

28.   In the meantime, he added, Bell Atlantic will offer video services through its recent investment in a wireless cable company, CAI Wireless Systems.

29.   Instead, he called BellSouth several weeks ago and signed up for its wireless cable service.

30.   Industry analysts said wireless cable is a particularly important technology in regions that are hard to reach with in-ground cables.