NEWSReport No. DC 95-39     ACTION IN DOCKET CASE           March 7, 1995

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS CHANGED TO ALLOW TELCO ENTRY 
     
INTO SMR SERVICE 
                                (GN DOCKET 94-90)

     In keeping with its commitment to promote competition among providers of mobile
telecommunications services, the Commission has amended its rules to allow wireline telephone 
companies to hold licenses in the Specialized Mobile Radio (SMR) service and in the subscriber-
based 220-222 MHz land mobile (commercial 220 MHz) services.  The Commission also eliminated
the prohibition on the provision of dispatch service by common carriers.

     When the Commission established the SMR service in 1974, it prohibited telephone
companies from becoming licensees.  The prohibition was considered necessary to promote
competition in the fledgling SMR industry.  The Commission adopted an analogous wireline
restriction for the commercial 220 MHz service when it established the service in 1991.  The
Commission indicated that the rationale for excluding wirelines from SMR licensing also applied
to the commercial 220 MHz service.

     The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (Budget Act) prescribed comprehensive
regulatory changes for the mobile services marketplace.  The legislative history of the Budget Act
identified the ban against wirelines holding SMR licenses as a regulation that should be reviewed
by the Commission.  Congress also granted the Commission authority to repeal the common carrier
dispatch ban, which has been in effect since 1982.  In a Notice of Proposed Rule Making, released
August 11, 1994, the Commission proposed to eliminate these restrictions.

     The Commission stated that eliminating the wireline prohibition will infuse new capital and
expertise into the mobile services marketplace, and will yield a broader range of services at lower
costs to consumers.  Repealing the wireline prohibition will also stimulate competition and promote
opportunities for additional entry of small entrepreneurs, such as rural telephone companies, into
the SMR and commercial 220 MHz services.  The Commission also notes that statutory and
regulatory safeguards are available to prevent wireline carriers from engaging in discriminatory
interconnection policies that would adversely affect non-affiliated SMRs and 220 MHz licensees.

     The Commission said eliminating the dispatch prohibition will enhance competition by
permitting all CMRS providers to offer dispatch services.  The introduction of new competitors may
lower costs to subscribers and provide more choices.  It is consistent with the Commission's efforts 
to achieve regulatory symmetry among comparable services.  The Commission permitted CMRS
licensees to provide dispatch upon the effective date of the rule changes.

                              (more)


                              -2-


     Action by the Commission March 7, 1995, by Report and Order (FCC 95- 98).  Chairman
Hundt, Commissioners Quello, Barrett, Ness and Chong.

     News Media contact: Stacey Reuben Mesa at (202) 418-0600.
     Wireless Telecommunications Bureau contact: Sue McNeil at (202) 418-0620.