NEWS                                                    February 11, 1998

                      FCC HOSTS THREE DAY WORKSHOP 
               WITH TELECOM REGULATORS FROM 15 COUNTRIES 

     To promote effective implementation of the 1997 World Trade Organization Agreement on
Basic Telecommunications Services which became effective on February 5, the FCC is hosting
telecommunications regulators from 15 countries for a three-day workshop in Washington, DC.  

     The purpose of the workshop is to promote effective pro-competitive regulatory regimes as
prescribed by the WTO Agreement and to promote increased competition in the worldwide market for
telecommunications services. 

     FCC Chairman William E. Kennard said, "The adoption of the WTO Telecom Agreement
was a huge step forward on the long road to worldwide competition.  But declaring markets open is
just the first step.  Effective implementation is critical, and regulators have a key role to play in
ensuring that the promise of the WTO Agreement is fully realized.  I hope the next few days provide
an opportunity for us to pull out our competition road maps and work together to make competition a
reality."  

     This is the first in a series of such meetings that the FCC will be hosting with international
regulators in the coming months.  The meeting began today and will end Friday.
     
     The agenda for the meeting is:

     February 11 - Regulating in a competitive environment; methods of introducing competition;
and terms and conditions of interconnection.

     February 12 - Interconnection pricing; simulation of interconnection problems; universal
service in a competitive market.

     February 13 - Allocation of universal service funds; tariff rebalancing and the relationship to
interconnection, access charges and universal service.

     Countries represented at this session, in addition to the United States,  are:  Australia, Brazil,
Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, Mexico, The Netherlands, Peru, Philippines,
South Africa, South Korea, and the United Kingdom.
                                     
                                  - FCC -

     News Media contact: Rosemary Kimball at (202) 418-0500.
     International Bureau contact: Peter Pappas at (202) 418-0746 or Brett Haan at (202) 418-
1481.