June 14,1999
                                
      FCC RELEASES REFERENCE BOOK OF RATES, PRICE INDICES,
             AND EXPENDITURES FOR TELEPHONE SERVICE

The FCC has released its annual comprehensive Reference Book
containing information related to telephone rates, including both
local and long distance rates.  The report also contains
information on rates in rural areas, rate trends, and telephone
expenditures.

The national average monthly charge for residential local service
with unlimited touch-tone calling, including subscriber line
charges and taxes, averaged $19.85 in October, 1998, 3 cents per
month less than the prior year.  Small businesses paid an average
of $41.27 per month for single line service in October, 1998, 40
cents per month less than the prior year. 

The Consumer Price Index for telephone service rose 0.3% during
1998.  This index includes local service charges (which increased
1.3%), intrastate toll charges (which increased 1.5%), and
interstate toll charges (which decreased 0.8%).  The nation's
overall rate of inflation was 1.6% for 1998.  Thus, in real
terms, the cost of residential telephone service (local,
intrastate toll, and interstate toll combined) fell 1.3% during
1998.    

The report contains Consumer Expenditure Survey data for 1980
through 1997, the latest year for which data is available.  The
average household spent $325 for telephone service in 1980 and
$809 in 1997, which represents about 2% of household expenditures
in each year.

The report is available in the FCC's Reference Information
Center, Courtyard Level, 445 12th Street, S.W., Washington DC 
20554.  Copies may be purchased by calling International
Transcription Services, Inc., (ITS) at (202) 857-3800.  The
report can also be downloaded [file name: REF99.ZIP or REF99.PDF]
from the FCC-State Link internet site at http://www.fcc.gov/ccb/stats on
the World Wide Web.

For additional information, contact Phil Cheilik at (202) 418-0939, or, for
users of TTY equipment, call 202-418-0484.



                            - FCC -