NEWS
                                                        February 17, 1998
                                    
       FCC COMMISSIONER MICHAEL POWELL CALLS FOR CREATIVE, MARKET-
       BASED PROPOSALS FOR PROMOTING INVOLVEMENT IN COMMUNICATIONS
               INDUSTRY BY MINORITIES AND SMALL BUSINESSES
                                    
     At a lunch meeting hosted today by the Douglass Policy Institute, a nonpartisan
research group, FCC Commissioner Michael Powell urged an audience of industry
representatives, educators and consumer advocates to promote involvement in the
communications industry by potentially marginalized groups, such as women, minorities and
small businesses, by offering creative, well-reasoned proposals that take into account the
larger economic and political context.  Powell set forth five principles that he believes should
guide implementation of such proposals:

     1.   Pursue race- and gender-neutral policies;
     2.   Encourage private-sector initiatives;
     3.   Jettison the self-evident rationales of the past;
     4.   Pursue economics-based initiatives; and
     5.   Look for "win-win" policies.

"With the advent of a competitive free-market we cannot employ the same tools we once
used to advance the interests of these groups -- to give them a fair opportunity to compete
and to ensure their voices are heard and their communities not ignored," Powell said.

     Powell's remarks were featured as part of the Douglass Institute's annual forum.  The
theme of this year's forum was "From the Underground Railroad to the Information
Superhighway."  Powell commented that "both the underground railroad and the information
superhighweay are powerful metaphors for opportunity" and urged audience members to
make thoughtful proposals that will enable women, minorities and small businesses to take
advantage of opportunities in the communications industry.  Powell cautioned, however, that
such proposals should not attempt to guarantee results for these groups.  "We all can prosper
in this brave new world, but we must remember that, as it has always been, freedom also
brings with it new challaneges -- we will have the freedom to fail."

     In his remarks, Powell touched on issues related to universal service and, more
generally, lobbying before the FCC.  Drawing on his experiences with these issues, Powell
urged audience members to avoid relying on self-evident rationales for promoting
involvement by women, minorities and small businesses in communications.  "[W]e can no
longer rely on the obvious worthiness of our objectives to validate the policies we adopt to
achieve them," said Powell.  "I, for one, am willing to take the Supreme Court at its word --
rigorous judicial scrutiny need not be a death knell to our pursuit of fair opportunities for
minoritites and women."

     Commissioner Powell's speech can be downloaded from his internet site at
http://www.fcc.gov/commissioners/powell/ on the World Wide Web.