FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:             News Media contact:
February 4, 2000                        Rosemary Kimball at (202) 418-0511
                                
CHAIRMAN KENNARD RELEASES REPORT ON THE AFRICAN INITIATIVE WITHIN
               HIS INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN

     Washington, DC -- William E. Kennard, chairman of the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC), today will release "Connecting the Globe:The Africa Initiative,"  the first of
four reports that will be produced as part of his International Development Initiative.  

     Last June, in response to a growing volume of requests from his regulatory counterparts
abroad, Chairman Kennard announced his International Development Initiative   a commitment
by the FCC to provide technical assistance to developing nations in Africa, Latin America, Asia
and central Europe to assist them in building independent telecommunications regulatory regimes
that will promote competition, liberalization and privatization. Chairman Kennard announced at
the time that he would  begin the initiative in Africa because it is the next great frontier in the
information revolution.

  Last summer Chairman Kennard traveled to Africa and he has signed one-year work plans
with South Africa, Ghana and Uganda.

  The report released today details the history of the initiative, the actual work plans signed with
those three countries and the three major components of the Development Initiative for Africa:

     q    Regional outreach to the telecommunications regulators of the Southern African
     Development Community (SADC) and the Telecommunications Regulators Association of
     Southern Africa (TRASA), as well as to regulatory officials from countries in the
     Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA);

     q    Bilateral work plans with Ghana, South Africa and Uganda, which provide for technical
     assistance from the FCC as well as exchanges of information; and

     q    Future opportunities for cooperation and assistance to countries seeking to establish
     independent regulatory bodies and open and competitive markets.

"Connecting the Globe: The Africa Initiative," as well as other documents relating to the
International Development Initiative, are available online at the FCC's website, www.fcc.gov.

                            - FCC -
International Bureau contact: Patrick Boateng at (202) 418-2370