FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE              NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:
  March 30, 2000                     Mike Balmoris at (202) 418-0253
                                     Email: mbalmori@fcc.gov
  
                              
                   FCC RELEASES NEW TELEPHONE PENETRATION REPORT
  
       Washington, D.C.   The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today released
  a report presenting data on telephone penetration levels by state for various income categories. 
  It is designed to help evaluate the degree of success of making telephone service available to low-
  income households in each state.
  
       This report is part of a series of supplemental reports on telephone penetration that are
  designed to complement the information available in "Telephone Subscribership in the United
  States," which is published three times a year.  Like the subscribership report, this report is based
  on data from the Current Population Survey, which is conducted by the Bureau of the Census.
  
       This report attempts to evaluate the effectiveness on telephone penetration of state "do not
  disconnect" (DND) policies, which require that customers not have their telephone service
  disconnected as long as the local portion of their phone bill has been paid.  The report compares
  penetration rates of states without DND policies with states that had such policies for at least five
  years and states that had them for less than five years.  Penetration increases have been greater on
  average in states with DND policies for at least five years than in states either without such policies
  or that have had them for less than five years.  This is true both for all households and for low-
  income households.
  
  This report is updated once a year and is available in the FCC's Reference Information
  Center, Courtyard Level, 445 12th Street SW, Washington, DC 20554. Call International
  Transcription Service at (202) 857-3800 to purchase a copy.  This report can also be
  downloaded [file name: PNTRIS99.ZIP or PNTRIS99.PDF] from the FCC-State Link
  Internet site at http://www.fcc.gov/ccb/stats on the World Wide Web.
  
                           -FCC-
  
  
  Common Carrier contact:  Alexander Belinfante at (202) 418-0944; TTY (202) 418-0484.