Airwave Entrepreneurs Still Feeling Their Way

As the owner of the Continental Windshield Repair Company in Baton Rouge, La., Marilyn U. Moore would hardly seem qualified to become a communications entrepreneur. But that didn't stop her from bidding a hefty $600,000 recently for a handful of licenses to provide interactive television service over the airwaves.

"I believe that interactive television is the wave of the future," said Ms. Moore, who along with hundreds of other people packed into a Washington hotel ballroom three weeks ago and took an entrepreneurial leap of faith that if the Government was holding an auction then there must be something valuable for sale.

"Of course," added Ms. Moore, who won the licenses on behalf of herself and a small pool of investors, "it could ultimately turn out to be a pig in a poke." 'Absolutely No Guarantees'

Ms. Moore has met the deadline for the 10 percent down payment on her licenses. But uncertainties abound in the wake of the Federal Communications Commission's recent auction of some 300 interactive television licenses, which many bidders apparently saw as a way to grab a stretch of the information superhighway.

The F.C.C. said yesterday that 17 percent of the winners had defaulted on the down payments [ Page D4 ] . Those in default, who will lose their application fees and may have to pay penalities, include the two biggest auction winners, who have said there are too many unanswered questions about what the service is supposed to be and when the necessary equipment will be ready.

Even the F.C.C., which surprised itself and the communications industry by attracting a total of $215 million in bids from the airwave auction, does not know how -- or whether -- the technology will actually work. And although airwave auctions are brand new, the commission's attitude from the start seems to be: let the buyer beware.