NEWSReport No. CC 97-25   COMMON CARRIER ACTION                 May 19, 1997
                                    
        Commission Proposes to Treat Guam Telephone Authority as an 
  Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier Under Section 251(h)(2) of Telecom Act;
             GTA Would be Subject to Interconnection Obligations
                           (CC Docket No. 97-134)
                                    
       The Commission has proposed to treat the Guam Telephone Authority (GTA)
as an incumbent local exchange carrier (LEC) for purposes of section 251 of the
Telecommunications Act of 1996 and has asked for comment on this proposal and on
whether there are other similarly situated LECs that should be subject to the same
treatment.  Companies that are "incumbent local exchange carriers" under section
251(h) are subject to the interconnection, unbundling, resale, and other obligations
imposed by section 251(c) of the 1996 Act.

       On August 13, 1996, the Public Utilities Commission of the Territory of
Guam (Guam PUC) filed a petition seeking a declaratory ruling on (1) whether GTA,
the LEC throughout Guam, is an "incumbent local exchange carrier" within the
meaning of section 251(h)(1) of the Communications Act and is therefore subject to
interconnection and other obligations under section 251(c); and (2) whether GTA is a
"rural telephone company" within the meaning of section 3(37) of the
Communications Act and is therefore exempt, at least initially, from such obligations.


       The Commission responded to the Guam PUC's petition with a single item
containing a Declaratory Ruling and a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.  In the
Declaratory Ruling, the Commission determined that GTA is not an incumbent LEC
under section 251(h)(1) but is a rural telephone company under section 3(37). 

       In the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the Commission stated that its
determination that GTA is not an incumbent LEC under section 251(h)(1) means that
interconnection obligations under section 251(c) do not apply to GTA at this time.
Section 251(h)(2) of the Communications Act, however, allows the Commission to
treat a LEC such as GTA as an incumbent LEC for purposes of section 251 if certain
statutory criteria are met.  The Commission tentatively concluded in the Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking that those criteria are satisfied, and that such treatment is
necessary to avoid frustrating the Congressional intent to include Guam within the
new national policy framework of competition in telecommunications.  The
Commission therefore invited comment on its proposal to treat GTA as an incumbent
LEC for section 251 purposes, in addition to seeking comment on whether LECs
situated similarly to GTA exist and, if so, whether such a class or category of LECs
should be subject to similar treatment.

       Action by the Commission May 19, 1997, by Declaratory Ruling and Notice
of Proposed Rulemaking (FCC 97-171).  Chairman Hundt, Commissioners Quello,
Ness, and Chong.
                                    
                                     -FCC-

       News media contact:  Rochelle Cohen at (202) 418-0253.
       Common Carrier Bureau contact:  Alexander Starr at (202) 418-7284.