NEWS
   
                                            Released: September 16, 1996
   
              FCC'S TOLL-FREE INFORMATION SERVICE EXPANDED
   (Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Georgia Now Have Service)
                                     
        Consumers in Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, Oklahoma, South Carolina and
   Georgia are now able to reach the Federal Communications Commission's National
   Call Center by calling 1-888-CALL FCC (1-888-225-5322).  As part of its ongoing
   commitment to make information available to the public expeditiously and
   inexpensively, the Commission is expanding the service area of its toll-free
   information phone line.  Delaware, Florida, Kansas, Maine, Montana, Nebraska,
   Vermont, Virginia and Wyoming were introduced to this new service earlier this
   year. 
   
        The FCC's centralized Information Call Center responds to inquiries of
   telecommunications issues including, but not limited to, broadcasting, cable, new
   technologies, telephone rates or charges, and long-distance carriers.  The Call Center
   also provides information on obtaining a license or form and how to file a complaint.
   When Commission subject matter experts must be consulted, the call can be
   electronically transferred directly from the Call Center to FCC Washington
   Headquarters at no additional cost to the caller.
   
        Full Call Center services are available to the hearing impaired through the
   Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TTY) and can be accessed by dialing     
   1-888-TELL-FCC (835-5322).  Full-time bilingual (English/Spanish) Call Center
   Specialists are also available to assist the public.
   
        The toll-free Call Center services are being phased-in geographically over a
   period of several months with full nationwide coverage planned by early 1997.  The
   current limited availability of the FCC 1-888 service is to allow for employee
   training, software and hardware testing and the gathering of vital research data
   critical to the overall success of the FCC's Call Center service.
   
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        The Call Center is operated by the FCC's Compliance and Information
   Bureau (CIB) and is located in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  The Call Center's hours of
   operation are 8:00 am to 5:30 pm Eastern Time.
   
   -  FCC  -
                                     
   
   News Media contact:  Meribeth McCarrick at (202) 418-0500.
   Compliance and Information Bureau contacts:  Marlene Jackson at (202) 418-1117
   and Byron McCoy at (202) 418-1100.