NEWS                                                          July 25, 1996

            REPORT ON IMPROVING COMMISSION PROCESSES RELEASED

     The Office of Plans and Policy today reported to the Commision on efforts to
improve Commission processes.  The report noted that many improvements have already
been made and many are well underway. 

     On February 8 of this year President Clinton signed into law the Telecommunications
Act of 1996 in the morning,  and that afternoon the Federal Communications Commission
adopted a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) on Improving Commission Processes (PP Docket 96-17) 
to solicit public input on routine Commission procedures.  Through that proceeding the
Commission extended its mission to  streamline and simplify its operations as much as
possible.  

     The NOI served as an umbrella proceeding under which the public could comment on 
Commission-wide and bureau- specific streamlining efforts.  The report is a snapshot of  the
FCC's progress.  In reply to the NOI, the Commission received nearly sixty formal comments,
reply comments, letters, petitions and motions.  The responses ranged from proposals for
major policy initiatives to suggestions for minor adjustments in the way we do business. 

      Over the next months, each bureau and office will report to the Commission the
outcome of specific initiatives.  Indeed, a large number of streamlining actions have already
been completed.  For example:

    The Wireless Telecommunication Bureau (WTB) has completed Phase I of its
     electronic filing initiative.  WTB has received over 73,500 applications electronically
     and its Amateur Radio Service has decreased processing times from 75 days to
     overnight.

    The Common Carrier Bureau (CCB) has launched an aggressive program to identify
     and eliminate unnecessary reports.  To date it has reduced reporting requirements by
     more than 50 percent for the National Exchange Carriers Association (NECA) among
     others.

    The International Bureau has adopted a one day notice period for international tariffs
     down from two weeks.


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    Within one week of receiving a request, the Mass Media Bureau set up a new website
     for the Audio Services Division that includes status information for pending and
     blocked construction permits and an on-line technical information database that can be
     queried using a stations call letters.   The site has logged over 940 "hits" this month.

    The FCC's toll free call center opened on June 3.  To provide this service, Compliance
     and Information Bureau employees designed the needed technology in-house at one-
     tenth of what it would have cost to buy off-the-shelf equipment.

      In addition to streamlining our processes, the NOI facilitated a dialogue between the
Commission, regulated entities, the legal community and the public.  At the urging of the
Office of General Counsel, representatives of each of the FCBA's practice committees met
with the Chiefs of the Mass Media Bureau, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, Cable
Services Bureau, International Bureau, and Common Carrier Bureau to discuss how the
Bureaus could improve procedures and processes.  

     Significantly, nearly all of the commenters, regardless of their other concerns, urged
expanded use of electronic filing.  They recognized that electronic filing of comments will
help streamline filing procedures, allow materials to be made available quickly and cheaply,
and give members of the public a fuller opportunity to participate in the actions of the
Commission.  In response to those commenters, the Commission will, over the next several
months, implement the next phase of its streamlining -- a Commission wide electronic filing
initiative.  

                                  - FCC -

     OPP contact: Donnajean Ward at (202) 418-2051.