NEWSJanuary 27, 1998

                 MICHAEL PRYOR TO BE APPOINTED DEPUTY CHIEF,
                   POLICY AND PROGRAM PLANNING DIVISION, 
                            COMMON CARRIER BUREAU
                                                                             
                Michael Pryor will be appointed Deputy Chief in the Common Carrier
Bureau's Policy and Program Planning Division.

                Pryor has been with the Policy and Program Planning Division since January
1996.  Since joining the Division, Pryor has been involved in implementing various
provisions of the 1996 Telecommunications Act.  During the past year, Pryor has
devoted a significant amount of his time to reviewing applications by Bell Operating
Companies (BOCs) to provide long distance service.  Most recently, Pryor led the
team of Commission staff reviewing the application of BellSouth Corp. to provide
such service in South Carolina.

                Before joining the FCC, Pryor was an associate in the Washington office of
the law firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell.

                Pryor graduated from the Georgetown University Law Center magna cum
laude in 1988, where he was an editor of the Georgetown Law Journal.  Pryor
received a B.S. degree from Western Washington University in 1978.  He is a
member of the Bar of the District of Columbia and the State of California.  

                                    - FCC -