NEWS                                                      December 26, 1996

          ERIC MALINEN JOINS OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS BUSINESS
                  OPPORTUNITIES AS SENIOR LEGAL ADVISOR
                                    
 Eric Malinen has been named Senior Legal Advisor of the FCC's Office of
Communications Business Opportunities (OCBO).  Mr. Malinen will oversee implementation 
of OCBO's program for compliance with the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness
Act of 1996 (SBREFA).  SBREFA requires federal agencies to change their approach toward
"final regulatory flexibility" analyses or certifications, which describe and explain the steps
taken by agencies to address small business concerns.  SBREFA also directs agencies that
regulate small entities to create a program to answer inquiries of such entities, to publish
"small entity compliance guides," and to develop policies or programs providing for waivers
or reductions of civil penalties for violations by small businesses.  Mr. Malinen will also have
general responsibility for wireless and common carrier issues.  

 Mr. Malinen came to the FCC in 1988.  As a senior staff attorney in various positions
within the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and former Private Radio Bureau, his
responsibilities have been in the areas of rule making, policy, and enforcement.  Most
recently, he was Senior Legal Advisor to the Chief, Private Wireless Division.

  Mr. Malinen was previously an Associate Counsel and an Intern for the U.S. House
Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance (1987), and prior to that was a research
attorney in private practice in Minnesota.  He was law clerk to Justice Lawrence Yetka of the
Minnesota Supreme Court.  He received his J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law
School, where he was Managing Editor of the Law Review, and a B.A. in Economics and
Political Science from St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota.


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