Exhibit 23(c)

                        CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT AUDITORS


The Board of Directors
Vanguard Cellular Systems, Inc.,:

   
We consent to the incorporation by reference in the previously filed
registration statements on Form S-4 (No. 33-35054), Form S-3 (No. 33-61295),
Form S-8 (No. 33-22866), Form S-8 (No. 33-53559), Form S-8 (No. 33-69824), Form
S-8 (No. 333-34771), Form S-8 (No. 333-34785), Form S-8 (No.33-36986), and Form
S-8 (No. 333-34787) of Vanguard Cellular Systems, Inc. of our report dated April
10, 1998, with respect to the consolidated balance sheets of International 
Wireless Communications Holdings, Inc. and subsidiary (the Company) as of 
December 31, 1996 and 1997, and the related consolidated statements of 
operations, stockholders' equity (deficit), and cash flows for each of the years
in the three-year period ended December 31, 1997, which report appears in the 
Form 10-K of Vanguard Cellular Systems, Inc. dated March 31, 1999.
    

Our report dated April 10, 1998, contains an explanatory paragraph that states
that the Company has suffered recurring losses from operations and has a net
capital deficiency, which raise substantial doubt about its ability to continue
as a going concern.  The consolidated financial statements do not include any
adjustments that might result from the outcome of that uncertainty.

                                                     KPMG LLP

Mountain View, California
March 30, 1999