NEWS                                                                  December 14, 1995

                       COMMISSIONER CHONG ADVOCATES
                      THREE STAGE ROADMAP TO ACHIEVE
                   MORE COMPETITION AND LESS REGULATION
     
     In a keynote speech to the 13th Annual Institute on Telecommunications Policy and
Regulation in Washington, D.C., Commissioner Rachelle B. Chong presented a plan to
transition to a more competitive communications marketplace with less regulatory oversight. 
The program was sponsored by the Practising Law Institute and the Federal Communications
Bar Association.

     Starting from the assumption that "competition generally should trump regulation,"
Chong described a three-stage "roadmap" that could lead to more competition and less
government regulation in communications markets.

         Stage One:  Government removes existing barriers to entry and breaks down
          inherent advantages for incumbents.

         Stage Two:  Government monitors the results of Stage One and adjusts policies
          as needed to advance competition.

         Stage Three:  Government steps back and lets the market work, with the FCC
          playing a limited "umpiring" role in such areas as interference, adjudicating
          complaints, and consumer protection.

     Chong predicted that the need for regulatory intervention and oversight in the future
will be "greatly diminished" if the work in Stage One proves successful.

     She also identified five major areas that the FCC will need to address in Stage One to
advance a procompetitive agenda:  interconnection between wireless and wireline networks,
access charges for long distance telephone companies, universal service, pricing, and numbering
issues.

     Praising Congress for its "unprecedented" progress toward enacting a revised federal
telecommunication law, Chong stated that a revised statute would help to "more quickly
achieve the goal of more competition and less regulation."

     Chong also challenged regulators to "avoid traditional notions of regulation" and to
"think boldly and creatively" to address issues in a more competitive environment.

                                   -FCC-