CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- Clark McLeod loves grabbing a cheap cafeteria lunch at his company's new headquarters here. One recent afternoon, he paid only $4.80 for a generous slice of cheese pizza, a barbecued-beef sandwich and coffee.

But Mr. McLeod got an even better deal in April when he bought government licenses to use the public airwaves. In a Federal Communications Commission auction, McLeodUSA Inc. was the high bidder for licenses to offer wireless communications to 15 million people in four states.

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