April 27, 1999


          SARAH WHITESELL NAMED COMMON CARRIER ADVISOR 
                     TO COMMISSIONER TRISTANI


          Sarah Whitesell will replace Paul Gallant as Legal Advisor to Commissioner Gloria
Tristani for common carrier issues.  

     Ms. Whitesell had been Senior Legal Advisor to the Telecommunications Division of
the FCC's International Bureau.  Ms. Whitesell recently returned to the Commission from the
Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice, where she reviewed telecommunications-
related transactions as an attorney on the Telecommunications Task  Force.  Previously, Ms.
Whitesell served as an attorney-advisor at the FCC in the Policy Division of the Common
Carrier Bureau.  Prior to joining the Commission, she practiced law at the firm of Wilmer,
Cutler, and Pickering, and served as a law clerk to the Honorable Jane R. Roth, U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Third Circuit.  

     Ms. Whitesell received her JD from Yale Law School and her BA from Davidson
College.


                             - FCC -