Report No. DC95-6          ACTION IN DOCKET CASE            January 9, 1995


       FCC PROPOSES AMENDING POLICIES AND RULES CONCERNING OPERATOR
              OPERATOR SERVICE PROVIDERS AND CALL AGGREGATORS
                          (CC DOCKET NO. 94-158)

     The Commission is soliciting comments on proposed changes to
its rules and policies governing operator service providers
(OSPs) and call aggregators.  

     In 1991, the Commission adopted comprehensive regulations
governing the practices of OSPs and the call aggregators with
whom they contract to provide operator services.  The rules
included a requirement that OSPs brand calls to identify
themselves to consumers.  The Commission also established minimum
standards for OSPs to use in routing and handling emergency
telephone calls.  The Telecommunications Authorization Act of
1992 subsequently required the Commission to establish minimum
requirements applicable to routing and handling emergency calls
by aggregators as well as  OSPs.  In addition, the Commission
ruled  in 1991 that inmate-only phones in correctional
institutions were not "aggregator" locations because of the
"exceptional" circumstances and were therefore not covered by the
FCC's operator service rules.

     The Commission stated that OSPs offer collect calling
services that raise an unresolved issue regarding branding.  The
question of which party to a collect call should be treated as
the "consumer," and is therefore entitled to branding, was not
specifically addressed in Section 226 of the Communications Act
and the implementing regulations.  Section 226, however, directed
the Commission to conduct a rulemaking proceeding to prescribe
regulations to ensure that consumers are protected from unfair
and deceptive practices relating to their use of operator
services and to ensure that consumers have the opportunity to
make informed choices when placing operator service calls. 

     Therefore, in this proceeding, the Commission has proposed
amending the rules to require branding to the parties on both
ends of a collect call.  Next, the Commission proposed to
establish  minimum standards for aggregators to follow in routing
and handling emergency telephone calls.


                                  (over)


                                    -2-

      Comments are requested on whether the definition of
"aggregator" should be expanded to apply to correctional
institutions and what, if any, changes should be made in the
Commission's treatment of entities that provide interstate
telecommunications services to prisons and other correctional
facilities.  Finally, the Commission is asking for comment on
whether its rules should be amended to prescribe a time limit for
updating the consumer information posted on or near aggregator
telephones in the event the presubscribed OSP has changed.

     Action by the Commission December 28, 1994, by Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking and Notice of Inquiry (FCC 94-352).  Chairman
Hundt, Commissioners Quello, Barrett, Ness, and Chong.


                                   -FCC-

     News Media contact: Patricia A. Chew at (202) 418-0500.
     Common Carrier Bureau contact: Carolyn Tatum Roddy at (202)
632-4887.