TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Telephone Company Drops Challenge to Auction: The move means the auction of new phone licenses, limited to minorities and small businesses, could take place as early as midsummer, government officials said. Jackson, Miss.-based Telephone Electronics Corp., which had sought to participate in the auction, reached agreement to provide the new mobile phone service to 260,000 people in portions of Louisiana through negotiations with a consortium known as PCS PrimeCo, which holds the license for that market. PCS PrimeCo is made up of the cellular phone companies of Bell Atlantic, Nynex, US West and AirTouch Communications. The Federal Communications Commission had planned to conduct the special auction for minorities and small businesses in June. But TEC, considered too big under FCC rules to participate, took the government to court.