NEWSReport No. DC 96-68    ACTION IN DOCKET CASE              July 18, 1996

                      FCC BEGINS IMPLEMENTATION OF
                 1996 TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT SAFEGUARDS;
       Seeks Comments on 1996 Act Requirements for Telemessaging, 
          Electronic Publishing, and Alarm Monitoring Services
                          (CC DOCKET NO. 96-152)

 The Commission today initiated a proceeding to implement the non-accounting safeguards
of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 for the provision of electronic publishing, alarm
monitoring, and telemessaging services.

 The 1996 Act opens the way for Bell Operating Companies (BOCs) to provide, among
other things, electronic publishing and telemessaging, and in the future, alarm monitoring services
in their local telephone service areas, subject to certain safeguards.  Congress determined that
BOC provision of these services would help to foster increased competition among all providers
of such services.  At the same time, however, Congress recognized that incumbent local exchange
carriers' (LECs), including BOCs', provision of these services raised certain concerns for
competition and consumers.  Congress enacted certain safeguards, therefore, to help prevent
incumbent LECs from improperly using their market power in the local telephone market to gain
an unfair advantage over their rivals.

  In a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) released today, the Commission proposes
ways to implement the non-accounting safeguards of sections 274, 275, and 260 of the 1996 Act. 
Section 274 of the Act permits BOCs to provide electronic publishing services subject to certain
separated affiliate and nondiscrimination requirements.  Sections 260 and 275 delineate conditions
under which incumbent LECs, including BOCs, may offer telemessaging and alarm monitoring
services, respectively.   The NPRM seeks comment on the appropriate interpretation of the non-
accounting separated affiliate and joint marketing requirements contained in the Act for the
provision of electronic publishing.  In addition, the NPRM seeks comment on the appropriate
interpretation of the Act's nondiscrimination safeguards for the provision of electronic publishing,
alarm monitoring, and telemessaging services.  The NPRM also seeks comment on the extent to
which these nondiscrimination provisions replace or are addressed by the Commission's existing
safeguards that apply to enhanced services generally.

 This proceeding is one of a series of interrelated rulemakings that collectively will
implement the 1996 Act.  In separate but related NPRMs released today, the Commission sought
comment on the accounting and certain other non-accounting safeguards required by the 1996
Act.  Together, the accounting and non-accounting safeguards are intended to protect subscribers
of monopoly services, such as local telephony, against the risk of being forced to pay costs
incurred due to the provision of competitive services, and to protect competition in those markets
from the LECs' ability to use their existing market power in local exchange services to obtain an
anticompetitive advantage in those new markets that they seek to enter.  In the NPRM, the
Commission also seeks comment on whether the  proposed safeguards will apply to both
interstate and intrastate provision of electronic publishing, alarm monitoring, and telemessaging
services.

 Action by the Commission July 18, 1996, by Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FCC 96-
310).   Chairman Hundt, Commissioners Quello, Ness, and Chong.

-FCC-
                                    
 News Media contact: Mindy Ginsburg at (202) 418-1500.
 Common Carrier Bureau contact: Michelle Carey at (202) 418-1580.