FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          AT
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1996                       (202) 616-2771
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888

 JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SEEKS COMPLETE REMOVAL OF AT&T CONSENT DECREE

           TAKES ACTION AGAINST EFFORTS TO BLOCK PROPER
           IMPLEMENTATION OF NEW TELECOMMUNICATIONS LAW

     Washington, D.C. -- In an effort to clear the way for full
implementation of the new telecommunications law, the Justice
Department today asked Judge Harold Greene to terminate its
historic 1982 consent decree with AT&T.
     At the same time, the Department asked the court to reject a
motion by several of the Regional Bell Operating Companies that
would force the Department to surrender information obtained
under the decree, information the Department considers vital to
its antitrust enforcement and Telecommunications Act duties.
     The Department's motion, filed in U.S. District Court in
Washington, D.C., seeks formal termination of the consent decree
that created the Baby Bells through the breakup of AT&T.  In its
motion, the Department stated that termination was appropriate
because as part of the wide-ranging reforms enacted under the
Telecommunications Act, Congress provided that the terms of the
Act and not those of the AT&T decree would govern all future 
activities of the Bell Operating Companies.
     The Telecommunications Act made significant and fundamental
changes in the regulatory and competitive framework of the
telecommunications industry.  Its intent is to foster the
development of competition in all areas by opening markets,
including local telephone service, to new competitors.
     "Lifting the AT&T consent decree will clear the way for the
new law to take center stage in moving the telecommunications
industry into a new era of robust competition and innovation,"
said Anne K. Bingaman, Assistant Attorney General in charge of
the Antitrust Division.
     The Telecommunications Act of 1996 specifies that the
Federal Communications Commission is responsible for determining
whether and when to permit a Bell Operating Company to provide
long distance service within the region where it now possesses a
virtual monopoly in local phone service.  The FCC is required to
give "substantial weight" to the Department's evaluation of Bell
applications for entry into long distance.  The Department was
given this special advisory role in light of the expertise it has
gained through years of enforcing the AT&T consent decree and
through its other antitrust enforcement activities in the
telecommunications industry.
     The Department's ability to retain possession of documents
collected under the AT&T decree and share them with the FCC is
vital to proper implementation of the new law because:
     þ    The documents contain information that is highly 
          relevant to the Department's evaluation of Bell 
          Operating Company applications for long distance entry
          and to the determinations the FCC must make before
          permitting entry.
     þ    The FCC has such a short time period in which to review an
          application that this information will otherwise likely be
          unavailable to them.
     þ    The documents will be needed for the Department to review
          the expected wave of mergers and joint ventures in these
          markets and for future antitrust investigations.
     "The success of the new law depends on a lot of hard work by
the FCC and the Justice Department, and it is important that we
not be denied information already collected that will allow us do
our jobs," said Bingaman.
     The Department has consistently maintained the right to retain
documents received under the AT&T consent decree and to share
them with the FCC, even after termination of the decree.  This is
in accordance with the Department's general policy that it can
retain documents produced in one investigation for use in other
enforcement activities.  This policy allows the Department to use
its resources more effectively and to make consistent enforcement
decisions while reducing the duplicative effort and expense of
private parties.
     The Department today also moved to dismiss its case, filed 
on July 15, 1994, challenging AT&T's proposed acquisition of 
McCaw Cellular Communications, Inc.  As noted in today's filing,
the changes mandated by the Telecommunications Act and other
recent changes in the industry warranted this action.
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96-076