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                            Before the
                Federal Communications Commission
                      Washington, D.C. 20554

In the Matter of                )
                                )
PUERTO RICO TELEPHONE COMPANY   )       WT Docket No. 96-162
                                )       
Request for Temporary Waiver of the )             
Commission's Rules to Establish Competitive)
Service Safeguards for Local Exchange Carrier)
Provision of Commercial Mobile Radio Services)
                                 

                             ORDER


     Adopted:  April 10, 1998           Released:  April 10, 1998

By the Acting Chief, Commercial Wireless Division, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau:

     1.  On March 31, 1998, Puerto Rico Telephone Company ("PRTC") filed a Supplemental Petition for
Temporary Waiver ("Supplemental Petition") requesting a sixty-day extension of the temporary waiver of
section 20.20(a) granted to PRTC on February 10, 1998.  Section 20.20(a) of the Commission's rules, which
went into effect on February 11, 1998, requires that incumbent local exchange carriers establish a separate
affiliate for provision of in-region broadband Commercial Mobile Radio Service ("CMRS").   For the reasons
discussed below, we hereby grant PRTC an additional sixty (60) day extension to establish a separate affiliate
for the provision of in-region broadband CMRS.  
 
     2.  In the waiver petition filed on January 16, 1998 (January 16 Petition), PRTC stated that, although
it had begun the process of complying with section 20.20(a) by restructuring its operations to create a separate
affiliate, it was awaiting a private letter ruling from the IRS on the federal tax consequences of its proposed
restructuring plan before making it effective.  Because the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act generally
exempts Puerto Rican corporations from complying with federal tax laws, PRTC stated that such
reorganization will have significant federal tax consequences.  PRTC also stated that it did not expect to
receive a final ruling from the IRS before the February 11 effective date of Section 20.20(a).  PRTC thus
requested a temporary waiver of section 20.20(a) until sixty days after the IRS issues a final ruling on its
request.  

     3.  In our Feb. 10 Order, we determined that because PRTC had shown reasonable diligence in seeking
IRS guidance on the tax consequences of its restructuring, but had not yet received an IRS ruling on its request,
we would grant PRTC sixty (60) days from February 11, 1998 to establish a separate affiliate for provision
of in-region broadband CMRS.  We also stated that if the IRS had not ruled on PRTC's request in that time
frame, PRTC could file a supplemental waiver request.  We also required PRTC to inform the Commission
of any further response it receives from the IRS to its private letter ruling request.  In addition, we stated that
PRTC is still required to comply with the other requirements of section 20.20, including the requirement that
it must not discriminate against other CMRS providers in the provision of interconnection or otherwise cross-
subsidize its provision of CMRS.

     4.   PRTC's current waiver expires on April 12, 1998.  In its Supplemental Petition, PRTC states that
it has not yet received a ruling from the IRS and thus requests an additional sixty days from April 12, 1998,
to establish a separate affiliate for the provision of broadband CMRS.  We find that PRTC has shown good
cause for it to be granted an extension of its waiver.  Therefore, we grant PRTC an additional sixty (60) days
from April 12, 1998 to establish a separate affiliate for provision of in-region broadband CMRS.

     5.  Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, that, pursuant to sections 4(i) of the Communications Act of 1934,
as amended, 47 U.S.C  154(i), authority delegated by section 0.331 of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R 
0.331, and pursuant to section 1.3 of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R.  1.3, the Supplemental Petition for
Temporary Waiver filed by Puerto Rico Telephone Company, on March 31, 1998, IS GRANTED, to the extent
provided herein.


                              FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION



                              Steven E. Weingarten
                              Acting Chief, Commercial Wireless Division
                              Wireless Telecommunications Bureau