NEWSReport No. CC 95-56    COMMON CARRIER ACTION       October 4, 1995

             FCC DISMISSED AN APPLICATION FOR REVIEW FILED BY
                    SOUTHWESTERN BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY

     The FCC dismissed Southwestern Bell Telephone Company's application for review
of a Common Carrier Bureau decision rejecting revisions to its access tariff. 

     Southwestern Bell (SWB) sought Commission review of a Bureau Order rejecting
revisions to SWB Tariff F.C.C. No 73 filed under Transmittal No. 2316.  In that transmittal,
SWB sought to introduce maximum and minimum rates -- "rate ranges" -- in its access tariff. 
The Common Carrier Bureau rejected the transmittal on the grounds that the proposed tariff
language was unclear and ambiguous in violation of Sections 61.2 and 61.54(j) of the
Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R.  61.2 and 61.54(j).

     The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has since ruled that
the Commission lacks authority to permit carriers to file tariffs with ranges of rates. 
Specifically, the court held in Southwestern Bell Corporation v. FCC, 43 F.3d 1515 (D.C.
Cir. 1995), that Section 203(a) of the Communications Act of 1934, 47 U.S.C.  203(a),
does not permit the Commission to allow common carriers to file a range of charges. 
Therefore, the Commission concluded that SWB's application for review should be dismissed
as moot because the Commission cannot grant SWB the relief it requests -- allowing its rate
range tariff provisions to become effective.

     Action by the Commission October 2, 1995 by Order (FCC 95-414).  Chairman
Hundt, Commissioners Quello, Barrett, Ness and Chong. 

                                  - FCC -

News Media contact: Susan Lewis Sallet at (202) 418-1500.
Common Carrier Bureau contacts: Richard Lerner at (202) 418-1530 and Ann Stevens at
(202) 418-1530.