The GSM speculation bandwagon took off this summer. Following the midsummer dream teaming of VoiceStream and Omnipoint, hope of other possible GSM romances sprang eternal. If it wasn't the whispers of mergers and acquisitions, it was the hint of alliances and joint ventures. Here is a sampling of the most hyped stories:

* Powertel, with prime real estate in the Southeast, is projected as an attractive addition to a larger GSM carrier.

* Following disappointing revenue earnings, Aerial Communications is suspected to be the apple of a larger GSM suitor's eye.

* On a larger scale, Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecommunications and its United Kingdom operator Orange have the monetary muscle to become potential investors/suitors. This suggestion holds merit especially because of the $1 billion investment Hutchison already has made in the VoiceStream and Omnipoint coupling.

* On the global front, murmurs surfaced in August about MCI World-Com snatching up some GSM networks. Because the company passed on the Nextel deal, many industry watchers speculate that a GSM foray would provide a strong entree into wireless.

DAVID VS. GOLIATHMost start-up GSM carriers in the United States originally chose to use their spectrum to carve out distinctive market niches. For example, Aerial Communications introduced per-second billing, Airadigm launched Wisconsin's own homegrown service, and Powertel offered a regional alternative to Bell-like companies in the Southeast. As carriers that chose these David vs. Goliath strategies, they must feel as though the wolves are knocking at the door and salivating over tasty GSM parcels.

Small carriers unwittingly have dangled attractive regional coverage areas that would allow larger, more financially secure carriers to complete their national geographic footprints. Unfortunately for these start-up carriers, building their own networks has been anything but easy, leaving them vulnerable to takeover. Although many had visions of building lucrative regional businesses to contend with the Big Boys, their plans haven't always materialized. Some carriers, particularly NextWave, never got far from the FCC with its licenses, stopping at bankruptcy court and eventually returning to the FCC for relief. Other carriers such as Airadigm are hanging on by their fingernails. The rigors of start-up and the weighty hands of competition have taken their toll. Many of the smaller PCS companies started out hog-tied by extravagant bids placed for license acquisition. Pile on the typical costs of start-up, and you have an Airadigm in the making.

The relief of a potential buyout may be just what some local and regional carriers need.

Here's a look at several GSM carriers and their potential appeal to other, perhaps larger carriers.

POWERTELPowertel, with headquarters in West Point, GA, has regional offices in each of its MTA markets of Atlanta; Birmingham, AL; Jacksonville, FL; Memphis, TN; and Louisville, KY. The company's PCS licenses encompass a territory of approximately 246,000 contiguous square miles with a population of approximately 24.3 million. Besides its licensed MTAs, the company also holds licenses for 13 BTAs in Kentucky and Tennessee. With the addition of these BTAs, Powertel features one of the largest contiguous PCS footprints in the southeastern United States.

Powertel's primary owners are SCANA (28%), the public via NASDAQ (23%), ITC Holding Company (22%), Ericsson (9%), Huff Asset Management (8%) and Powertel employees (7%).

If the VoiceStream/Omnipoint merger goes through, Powertel could hold the key for the Southeast for John Stanton, VoiceStream's chairman & CEO. The company is run fairly conservatively and has managed to acquire more than 338,000 subscribers. With Omnipoint's southern anchor in Miami as well as its northeastern seaboard coverage, Powertel serves up the meat for the VoiceStream/Omnipoint sandwich. A Powertel power play would make sense because it gives them the regional company and the national footprint.

AERIALAerial Communications is a majority-owned (82.4%) subsidiary of Telephone and Data Systems (TDS). In 1993, TDS garnered the licenses to a veritable hodge-podge of PCS major markets. Aerial's licenses cover Columbus, OH; Houston; Kansas City, MO; Minneapolis-St. Paul; Orlando, FL; Pittsburgh; and Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL, serving approximately 27.6 million POPs.

Analyst and carrier opinions diverge on Aerial's appeal. Aerial owns diverse non-contiguous markets. This is both the reason for advocates as well as dissenters. The advocates say that Aerial is attractive because it could offer a large carrier mature markets to fill in the GSM blanks. The skeptics claim that the spotty fill-in capability of an Aerial buy would have little perceived impact on a national GSM network.

PACIFIC BELL WIRELESSSBC Communications owns a quiet, little GSM company out West. Pacific Bell Wireless offers local coverageto its PCS markets in California and Nevada. Under the Nevada Bell, Pacific Bell, Southwestern Bell and Cellular One/Chicago brands, SBC, through its subsidiaries serves more than 7.2 million U.S. wireless customers.

In 1997, Pacific Bell Wireless, doing business as Nevada Bell Wireless, turned on its wireless phone service. Nevada Bell Wireless claims to be the third largest wireless provider in the region and says that it has more than doubled its subscriber base in the last year.

VoiceStream surrounds Pacific Bell Wireless with its GSM coverage. According to one carrier, "VoiceStream has to be drooling over them (Pacific Bell). But is SBC going to spin off Pac Bell? I don't think so."

AIRADIGMAt Airadigm Communications headquarters in Little Chute, WI, the company touts "no matter where you are, there we are" and a superior alternative to current communications options in Wisconsin. The company covers Wisconsin's Green Bay, Appleton/Oshkosh, Marinette, Fond du Lac, Madison, Sheboygan, Manitowoc, Stevens Point, Wausau/Rhinelander, Janesville/Beloit, Eau Claire and La Crosse markets as well as Dubuque, Waterloo and Cedar Rapids, IA.

In March 1999, Airadigm attracted attention when its Einstein service became the first C-block PCS carrier in the country to turn on service.

Wisconsin Wireless Communication Corporation (WWCC) is Airadigm's parent company. WWCC is wholly owned and operated in Wisconsin and claims to be a true hometown provider for PCS.

Unfortunately, Airadigm filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in August. At the time, it made arrangements with two of its creditors -- Ericsson and the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin -- for payment. The company also hired an economic turnaround specialist to take over for George Benson, Airadigm's retiring president, to handle FCC license bids and other operating debts. The appeal of this type of acquisition is dampened somewhat by the bankruptcy proceedings.

Although this GSM company has the Wisconsin market locked up, a larger carrier may choose to let the financial dust settle before making a play for it. Therefore, it is a possible target sometime down the road, but it isn't likely to command the attention that companies such as Aerial and Powertel do on a "to-buy" short list.

OH NO, HERE IT COMES AGAINOn the most infamous quest for a wireless strategy that never really materializes, MCI WorldCom was suggested as a potential GSM shopper early in August. Certainly, ownership in the U.S. GSM system could bring it the strongest potential for a world network. It also would put it on a competitive par with its archrivals AT&T Wireless and Sprint.

Pragmatically, it seems to be a relatively straightforward way to get into wireless. However, industry watchers continue to wonder what Bernie Ebbers, MCI chairman & CEO, or his investors have in mind. Maybe its paging purchase of SkyTel earlier this summer is the extent of MCI's wireless reach.

Or perhaps it is as one carrier executive put it: "MCI WorldCom doesn't want to invest in any wireless companies. It prefers virtual service -- to continue reselling."

OTHER WORLD PLAYERThe AirTouch-Vodafone merger launched the era of global wireless deals. Analysts predict that this will be the first of many. There are many countries and international carriers with the pockets deep enough to follow suit. One impediment to date has been the overriding view from abroad that GSM isn't doing well in the United States. However, Mike Houghton, GSM Alliance spokesman, claimed that view is changing.

"GSM carriers are doing quite well with 4.2 million subscribers in the United States," he said. Collectively, U.S. GSM carriers would qualify as the 12th largest GSM carrier in the world.

The prospect of another global buy may not be as immediate as some would hope. In the words of one national carrier executive: "Large international companies probably are asking, 'Do I really want to get involved in buying many companies to build a U.S. GSM network, or do I want to wait and let nature take its course?' Let the larger animals eat up smaller animals. Then a big player will come in and bag the big one."

FUTURE TIESNews of major mergers and acquisitions breed the anticipation of others to come. GSM companies proved to be no different following the VoiceStream/Omnipoint merger.

"It would be naive to think there won't be more consolidation (in the GSM market)," said one carrier representative. However, the difference in this instance is that future alliances offer hope for the GSM network in the United States. If it can strengthen its U.S. network strategy, it has a chance to make the most of its 70% penetration throughout the rest of the world.

One association representative pointed to wireless' total unpredictability. He used CommNet, a cellular carrier with rural holdings, which is getting ready to be sold, as an example.

"Who would have thought it would have made it this long or far?

"For that matter, Aerial could turn around, get financing and buy VoiceStream. With these GSM entities, you just never know."

In North America, 24 PCS carriers selected GSM for their networks. Today, 15 of those companies are commercially operational and serving about 4.2 million customers, according to the North American GSM Alliance.

Alliance members have banded together to promote GSM and increase the competitive advantage for its member companies. The goal is to accelerate the continued expansion of GSM in North America and abroad.

Regardless of future GSM mergers and acquisitions, the alliance plans to improve brand recognition for U.S. GSM companies. It could be something similar to what cellular non-wireline companies did in the 1980s when they banded together under the Cellular One brand name.

GSM Alliance members include Aerial Communications, Airadigm Communications, BellSouth Mobility DCS, Conestoga Wireless Company, Cook Inlet PCS, DIGIPH PCS, Iowa Wireless Services, Microcell Telecommunications, NPI Wireless; Omnipoint Communications, Pacific Bell Wireless; Powertel, STPCS Joint Venture, TWS, Western Total Communications, VoiceStream and Wireless 2000 PCS.