NEWS
   
                                            Released: September 30, 1996
   
              FCC'S TOLL-FREE INFORMATION SERVICE EXPANDED
                  (Eleven More States Now Have Service)
                                     
        Consumers in eleven more states are now able to reach the Federal
   Communications Commission's National Call Center by calling 1-888-CALL FCC
   (1-888-225-5322).  
   
        The following states have been introduced to this new service:
   
        Arizona    New Hampshire
        District of Columbia        Oregon
        Iowa       Rhode Island
        Maryland   Texas
        Massachusetts    Washington
        Missouri
   
        As part of its ongoing commitment to make information available to the
   public expeditiously and inexpensively, the Commission is expanding the service area
   of its toll-free information phone line.  See attached list for states that were added
   to the National Call Center earlier this year. 
   
        The FCC's National Call Center responds to inquiries of telecommunications
   issues including, but not limited to, broadcasting, cable, new technologies, telephone
   rates or charges, and long-distance carriers.  The Call Center also provides
   information on obtaining a license or form and how to file a complaint. When
   Commission subject matter experts must be consulted, the call can be electronically
   transferred directly from the Call Center to FCC Washington Headquarters at no
   additional cost to the caller.
   
        Full Call Center services are available to the hearing impaired through the
   Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TTY) and can be accessed by dialing     
   1-888-TELL-FCC (835-5322).  Full-time bilingual (English/Spanish) Call Center
   Specialists are also available to assist the public.
   
        The toll-free Call Center services are being phased-in geographically over a
   period of several months with full nationwide coverage planned by early 1997.  The
   current limited availability of the FCC 1-888 service is to allow for employee
   training, software and hardware testing and the gathering of vital research data
   critical to the overall success of the FCC's Call Center service.
   
        The Call Center is operated by the FCC's Compliance and Information
   Bureau (CIB) and is located in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  The Call Center's hours of
   operation are 8:00 am to 5:30 pm Eastern Time.
   
   -  FCC  -
                                     
   
   News Media contact:  Meribeth McCarrick at (202) 418-0500.
   Compliance and Information Bureau contacts:  Marlene Jackson at (202) 418-1117
   and Byron McCoy at (202) 418-1100.
   
   
      
                       FCC'S NATIONAL CALL CENTER
            (States Introduced to Service Earlier This Year)
                                     
   
   
        Phase 1 - June 3, 1996 
        Florida
        Maine
        Virginia
   
        Phase 2 - August 19, 1996 
        Kansas
        Montana
        Vermont
   
        Phase 3 - September 3, 1996
        Delaware
        Nebraska
        Wyoming
   
        Phase 4 - September 16, 1996
        Georgia
        Illinois
        Michigan
        Minnesota
        Oklahoma
        South Carolina