U S West Inc., AirTouch plan cellular venture; merger, second of its kind in a month, would pool 1.7 million subscribers

U S West Inc and AirTouch Communications, the Pacific Telesis Group spinoff, will combine their cellular operations into a national service. The new company, the industry's second such union in one month, will have 1.7 million customers and annual revenues of $1.26 billion. It will be the nation's fourth-largest cellular company, and its combined value will be about $13.5 billion. A similar agreement was reached in Jun 1994 between Bell Atlantic Corp and Nynex Corp. That merger will have revenues of $1.2 billion and 1.8 million customers. Some observers are anxious about these mergers, fearing that the wireless industry will be dominated by giants.