NEWS

Report No. DC 96-21        ACTION IN DOCKET CASE       March 8,
1996

COMMISSION ESTABLISHES JOINT BOARD AND INITIATES RULEMAKING FOR
CONSIDERATION OF UNIVERSAL SERVICE ISSUES PURSUANT TO
TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1996 
                             (CC DOCKET 96-45)

     The Commission has taken the first crucial steps toward
implementing the universal
service directives of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (the
1996 Act).  The Commission
today adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) and an Order
Establishing a
Federal-State Joint Board for consideration of universal service
issues.  

     The 1996 Act directs the Commission to accomplish the
following tasks:  promote the
availability of quality services at just, reasonable, and
affordable rates; increase access to
advanced telecommunications services throughout the Nation;
advance the availability of such
services to all consumers, including those in low income, rural,
insular, and high cost areas
at rates that are reasonably comparable to those charged in urban
areas.  In addition, the
1996 Act states that: all providers of telecommunications
services should contribute to
Federal universal service in some equitable and nondiscriminatory
manner; there should be
specific, predictable, and sufficient Federal and State
mechanisms to preserve and advance
universal service; all schools, classrooms, health care
providers, and libraries should,
generally, have access to advanced telecommunications services;
and finally, that the
Federal-State Joint Board and the Commission should determine
those other principles that,
consistent with the 1996 Act, are necessary to protect the pubic
interest.

     The NPRM seeks comments on the implementation of the 1996
Act's universal
service goals and, consistent with the 1996 Act, empowers the
Federal-State Joint Board to
conduct a thorough review of the existing system of Federal
universal service support.







                                  (over)


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     In addition to the NPRM, in the Order released today, the
Commission convened the
Federal-State Joint Board and appointed to the Joint Board the
Honorable Reed E. Hundt, the
Honorable Andrew C. Barrett, the Honorable Susan Ness, the
Honorable Julia L. Johnson of
the Florida Public Service Commission, the Honorable Kenneth
McClure of the Missouri
Public Service Commission, the Honorable Sharon L. Nelson of the
Washington Utilities and
Transportation Commission, the Honorable Laska Schoenfelder of
the South Dakota Public
Utilities Commission, and Martha S. Hogerty, Public Counsel for
the State of Missouri, with
the Honorable Reed E. Hundt serving as Chairman.

     Action by the Commission, March 8, 1996, by Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking and
Order Establishing Joint Board (FCC 96-93).  Chairman Hundt,
Commissioners Quello,
Barrett, Ness, and Chong, with Commissioner Barrett issuing a
separate statement.

     News Media contact: Mindy J. Ginsburg at (202) 418-1500.
     Common Carrier Bureau contacts: Deborah Dupont, Bill Kehoe,
and Jon Reel at
(202) 418-0850.