Before the
                Federal Communications Commission
                      Washington, D.C. 20554


In the Matter of                )
                                )
Policy and Rules Concerning the )       
Interstate Interexchange Marketplace)        CC Docket No. 96-61
                                )
Implementation of Section 254(g))
of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended)


                             ORDER


Adopted:  October 2, 1998               Released:  October 2, 1998

By the Deputy Chief, Common Carrier Bureau:

                       I.   INTRODUCTION

     1.   In this Order, pursuant to Section 10(c) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended
(the "Act"), we extend by 90 days the date by which petitions requesting forbearance filed by Airtouch
Communications, Inc., Bell Atlantic Mobile, Inc., BellSouth Corporation, the Cellular Telecommunications
Industry Association, the Personal Communications Industry Association, PrimeCo Personal
Communications, L.P., and Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. shall be deemed granted in the absence of a
Commission decision that the petitions fail to meet the standards for forbearance under Section 10(a) of the
Act.

                        II.   BACKGROUND

     2.   On October 3, 1997 the above mentioned parties filed petitions for reconsideration and/or
forbearance in which they requested that the Commission forbear from applying the rate integration
provisions of Section 254(g) of the Act to Commercial Mobile Radio Services (CMRS) carriers.  We have
received comments and replies from several parties with respect to these petitions.

     3.   Section 10(c) of the Act states that a petition for forbearance shall be deemed granted if the
Commission does not deny the petition for failure to meet the requirements for forbearance under subsection
(a) within one year after the Commission receives it, unless the one year period is extended by the
Commission.  The Commission may extend the initial one-year period by an additional 90 days if the
Commission finds that an extension is necessary to meet the requirements of subsection 10(a).

                       III.   DISCUSSION

     4.   The petitions under review raise significant questions regarding whether forbearance from
the rate integration provisions of Section 254(g) of the Act for CMRS carriers, meets the statutory
requirements set forth in Section 10(a).  The Bureau thus finds that a 90 day extension is warranted under
Section 10.

                     IV.   ORDERING CLAUSE

     5.   Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to Section 10 of the Communications Act of 1934,
as amended, 47 U.S.C.  160, and authority delegated under Sections 0.91 and 0.291 of the Commission's
rules, 47 C.F.R.  0.91 and 0.291, that the date on which petitions seeking forbearance filed by Airtouch
Communications, Inc., Bell Atlantic Mobile, Inc., BellSouth Corporation, the Cellular Telecommunications
Industry Association, the Personal Communications Industry Association, PrimeCo Personal
Communications, L.P., and Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. shall be deemed granted in the absence of a
Commission denial of the petitions for failure to meet the statutory standards for forbearance, is extended
to January 1, 1999.

     

                              FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION




                              James D. Schlichting
                              Deputy Chief
                              Common Carrier Bureau