After winning auctions for radio spectrum, the firm became a Competitive Local Exchange Carrier and began selling wireless broadband service.

[3] In 1994, Winstar completed an initial public offering, listing its stock on Nasdaq under the symbol "WCII".

The company also received positive research reports from analysts, such as Jack Grubman,[6][7] contributing to the Global settlement.

Despite its growth, Winstar was unable to generate enough sales to cover debts from massive capital expenditures required to build out its infrastructure.

Among its creditors were a number of banks and high yield bond investors as well as other large telecommunications players, including Lucent that had offered the company significant vendor financing.