Acquisition

VODAFONE AIRTOUCH PLC
19 July 1999

       VODAFONE AIRTOUCH ACQUISITION OF COMMNET CELLULAR TO
        EXPAND AIRTOUCH'S FOOTPRINT IN NINE WESTERN STATES

Vodafone  AirTouch Plc announced today that it has agreed,  through
its  wholly  owned subsidiary AirTouch Cellular,  to  purchase  the
entire  issued share capital of CommNet Cellular Inc.,  ('CommNet')
for  $764 million in cash, plus debt which is expected to be  about
$600  million at the close of the transaction.  Under the terms  of
the  agreement, shareholders of CommNet will receive $31 per  share
in  cash,  plus 8 percent annual interest from 18 July, 1999  until
closing.   CommNet is majority owned by Blackstone Capital Partners
II,  a  private  equity  fund of the Blackstone  Group,  a  private
investment  bank  in  New  York.  The  transaction  is  subject  to
customary conditions including receipt of approval from the Federal
Communications Commission.

The  deal, which is expected to close in four to five months,  will
add  vast  new regions to AirTouch's coverage area in  the  Western
United  States.  CommNet   offers  service  in  most  of  Colorado,
Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming and parts  of
Idaho,  Iowa  and  New Mexico. It also owns minority  interests  in
operations in three other states.

CommNet's  share of those markets gives it access  to  3.6  million
potential  customers.   Today  it has about  360,000  proportionate
customers.

The purchase fills gaps in AirTouch's coverage area which until now
have  been served through costly roaming agreements.  AirTouch will
now be able to extend service to communities such as Rapid City and
Sioux  Falls,  South  Dakota;  Sioux City,  Iowa;  Bismarck,  North
Dakota; Great Falls and Billings, Montana; and Pueblo, Colarado.

'CommNet's markets are well managed and fit ours like a hand  in  a
glove,' said Chris Gent, CEO of Vodafone AirTouch Plc .  'This deal
will allow customers to enjoy the benefits of AirTouch quality over
a  much  broader  area.  It will cut our roaming  costs  and  offer
significant marketing synergies,  which will enable us  to  improve
the value we offer customers'.

Arnold C.Pohs, Chairman and CEO of CommNet, said, 'This transaction
joining    CommNet    with    the    world's    largest    wireless
telecommunications company is a true benefit for our  shareholders,
subscribers,  telephone  company  partners,  employees  and  future
customers.   As  the definitive provider of cellular  telephony  to
rural America, we now know that our heritage of service and quality
is  now firmly secure for the future, for truly the best is yet  to
come'.

AirTouch  serves  9  million US cellular and  PCS  customers  on  a
proportionate basis.  Its ventures operate in 25 states  and 22  of
the  top  30  US  markets,  including  Atlanta,   Chicago,  Dallas,
Detroit,  Houston,  Los  Angeles, Miami, Phoenix,  San  Diego,  San
Francisco  and  Seattle.  AirTouch Cellular  is  part  of  Vodafone
AirTouch  Plc,  the world's largest mobile communications  company,
which  is  based  in the United Kingdom.  It has operations  in  23
countries  on five continents, with almost 28 million proportionate
cellular customers.

For further information please contact:
Terry G Barwick, Director of Corporate Affairs, Vodafone AirTouch
Telephone: [phone]

Tim Brown/Melissa Stimpson, Investor Relations Department, Vodafone
AirTouch
Telephone: [phone]

Jonathan Marshall, AirTouch Cellular
Telephone: [phone]

Peter Willetts, Tavistock Communications Limited
Telephone: [phone]