FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                        NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:               
                                                                        
                                                                        
  October 19, 1999                                                              Mike Balmoris at (202) 418-
  0253                                                                  
                                        
                                           Email: mbalmori@fcc.gov
       
  
    FCC PROPOSES $2 MILLION FINE FOR LONG DISTANCE PHONE
         PROVIDER QWEST COMMUNICATIONS FOR SLAMMING
  
          Forged Signatures Among Violations Found
  
  Washington, D.C. -- The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today
  issued a Notice of Apparent Liability against Qwest Communications International, Inc.
  (Qwest), for apparent violations of the Commission's rules against slamming and proposed
  a forfeiture of $2,080,000.  Slamming is the illegal practice of switching consumers'
  preferred telephone carriers without their consent.  Qwest has 30 days to pay the
  forfeiture or show why the forfeiture should be reduced or not imposed.
  
       This proposed forfeiture is based upon the complaints of 30 consumers who
  claimed they had been switched to Qwest without their consent.  Twenty-two of these
  complaints apparently involve forged or otherwise falsified letters of authorization to
  switch service. 
  
  Deceased Dog Boris "Switched" Provider
  One of the complainants asserts that Qwest switched his preferred long distance
  service on the basis of an authorization "signed" in the name of his deceased dog, Boris. 
  For privacy reasons, this subscriber had chosen to list his number in his dog's name in the
  local telephone directory.  
  
  In another instance, the complainant alleges that the authorization letter provided by
  Qwest was purportedly signed by her husband, who had been deceased for eight years.
  The Commission proposed forfeitures of $80,000 for each of the 22 complaints alleging
  forged authorizations in light of their egregious nature.
  
       In the remaining eight complaints, the Commission found that Qwest apparently
  switched the complainants' preferred long distance carrier without proper authorization. 
  In four of these cases, Qwest failed to provide any evidence to demonstrate that it had
  verified the consumers' authorization before ordering a carrier switch, as required by the
  Commission's slamming rules.  The Commission proposed forfeitures of $40,000 for each
  of these apparent slamming violations.
       
  Number of Slamming Complaints 
  The complaints forming the basis of this action involve allegations of slamming by
  both Qwest and by LCI International Telecom Corp, (LCI), which was acquired by Qwest
  in October 1998.  Between September 1, 1998 and August 31, 1999, the Commission's
  Common Carrier Bureau processed 637 written consumer complaints alleging slamming
  by Qwest, and 551 written complaints alleging slamming by LCI.  During the same period,
  the Commission's National Call Center received 1,142 consumer calls regarding
  unauthorized changes by Qwest and 218 regarding such changes by LCI.
  
       Slamming continues to be the Commission's largest area of telephone-related
  complaints.  During the past year, the Commission has proposed nearly $13 million in
  forfeitures in connection with this fraudulent practice.  The Commission also adopted in
  December, 1998 aggressive new rules to deter slamming, including requirements that
  would absolve consumers from having to pay some charges incurred after being slammed. 
  These liability provisions, however, have been stayed by the Court of Appeals.
  
  Action by the Commission October 15, 199, by Notice of Apparent Liability for
  Forfeiture (FCC 99-299).  Chairman Kennard, Commissioners Ness, Furchtgott-Roth,
  Powell and Tristani.  
  
       File No.  ENF-99-11
  
                           -FCC-
  
  
  Common Carrier Contact:  
  Glenn Reynolds at (202) 418-0960.  TTY: (202) 418-2555