FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:        News Media Contact:
  June 10, 1999                      Rosemary Kimball at (202) 418-0500
  
CHAIRMAN WILLIAM E. KENNARD NAMES DONALD ABELSON HEAD OF FCC
                    INTERNATIONAL BUREAU
  
       Chairman William E. Kennard announced today that he intends to name Donald
  Abelson, currently Assistant U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) for Industry and
  Communications, as the new Chief of the International Bureau at the Federal
  Communications Commission (FCC), effective July 1, 1999.
  
       Abelson comes to the Commission with extensive experience in international
  communications issues.  Before being named to his current position, he was USTR's Chief
  Negotiator for Communications and Information, leading its effort to facilitate global
  electronic commerce over the Internet.  Abelson headed the U.S. delegation to the World
  Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations from 1994, through their successful conclusion in
  February 1997.  These negotiations resulted in a precedent-setting agreement on basic
  telecommunications in which 70 countries made trade commitments covering 95% of
  global local, long-distance and international services delivered by wire, wireless and
  satellite technologies.
  
       "Don Abelson is ideally suited for the job.  He brings to the International Bureau a
  wealth of knowledge and years of hands-on experience with international communications
  issues that will be increasingly important to continued prosperity at home and economic
  development abroad," said Chairman Kennard. 
  
       In his 23-year career at USTR, Abelson has served as the Assistant U.S. Trade
  Representative for Services, Investment and Intellectual Property and as the Deputy U.S.
  Trade Representative in the Latin America office.  During the lead-up to the signing of the
  North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), he was the point person on U.S.-
  Mexican trade issues.  Prior to that, he spent a decade as USTR's foremost negotiator on
  standards-related trade issues, including work on Japanese and European bilateral trade
  issues.
  
       Abelson has a Bachelor's Degree from Sarah Lawrence College and a Master's
  Degree in International Economics from the School of Advanced International Studies at
  Johns Hopkins University (SAIS).
  
                                                                  - FCC -