FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                                  NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:
May 4, 1999                                  Rosemary Kimball at (202) 418-0500            

   FCC PROVIDES RADIO SPECTRUM MANAGEMENT TRAINING 
                    COURSE FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES 

     The Federal Communications Commission began its annual radio
spectrum management training course, "Spectrum Management in the Civil
Sector", on Monday, April 26, l999.  The two-week course is presented under
the aegis of the United States Telecommunications Training Institute (USTTI), a
public-private initiative of the United States to assist the developing world.

     Commissioner Susan Ness welcomed 23 participants from Botswana,
Brazil, Cyprus, Ghana, Guyana, Haiti, Hungary, Laos, Moldova, Papua New
Guinea, Romania, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Africa,
Tanzania, Ukraine and Zambia.  The students will study and discuss such
diverse issues as radio spectrum regulations, modern communication services,
satellite and terrestrial coordination methods, broadcast and cable television
technical issues, allocation methodologies and enforcement and investigatory
procedures.

     The course includes visits to the Commission's license processing center
in Gettysburg, PA, and to the FCC Laboratory in Columbia, MD.
Related trips are scheduled to the Advanced Television Technology Center and
to Jones Communications in Alexandria, VA, the WRC-TV  broadcasting station
in Washington, DC, the Cellular One base station in Hanover, MD, and the
Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD.  Course co-sponsors Motorola
and Comsearch will each provide instruction in their respective areas for the
participants.

     Directly following the spectrum management course, the FCC, with its co-
sponsor, the Watkins-Johnson Company, will provide further USTTI training by
presenting a course, "Radio Spectrum Monitoring and Measuring" at the FCC's
Columbia Operations Center in Columbia, Maryland and at the Watkins-
Johnson facility in Gaithersburg, Maryland.  In June and October, two additional
FCC-sponsored USTTI monitoring courses will be presented.

     In late July, in cooperation with the USTTI,  the Commission will
sponsor, for the fifth year, a one week course entitled, "Regulatory and
Privatization Issues in Telecommunications".  Finally, for the second year, a
Commission-sponsored USTTI course, "Laboratory Techniques in Support of
Equipment Authorization Programs" will be presented in early November.

     Chairman William Kennard is a member of the USTTI Board of Directors,
comprised of communications leaders from the U.S. private sector and the
Federal Government who join together to ensure that the USTTI provides a
maximum training opportunity through its diverse, tuition-free curriculum for
men and women who manage communications systems throughout the
developing world.

                                               - FCC -

International Bureau contact:  Barbara Cutts (202) 4l8-lll6