FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          AT
FRIDAY, MAY 16, 1997                               (202) 616-2771
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888
                                     
  JUSTICE DEPARTMENT RECOMMENDS TO FCC THAT IT REJECT SBC COMMUNICATIONS'
             APPLICATION TO PROVIDE LONG DISTANCE IN OKLAHOMA


   Justice says SBC's Application is Premature since the Company hasn't 
      Completed Steps to Open Local Telephone Markets to Competition

     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Department of Justice filed comments
today with the Federal Communications Commission recommending
that the Commission reject an application by SBC Communications
to provide long distance service in Oklahoma, because SBC has not
yet completed the legally required steps to open local telephone
markets in Oklahoma to competition. 

     "New competitors still don't have a real opportunity to
compete in Oklahoma's local telephone markets because SBC hasn't
yet implemented several requirements of the 1996
Telecommunications Act," said Joel I. Klein, Acting Assistant
Attorney General for the Department's Antitrust Division, in
indicating that SBC's application is premature and should be
rejected.

     "Opening up local markets under the Telecommunications Act
will enable consumers to reap the significant benefits that
competition will bring--lower prices, higher quality service, and
increased service offerings," Klein emphasized.

     Klein explained that authorizing SBC to provide long
distance service would undermine the objectives of the Act
because it has yet to comply fully with the Act's market-opening
measures.

     Since the break up of the integrated Bell system as part of
the AT&T divestiture, the independent Bell Operating Companies,
or BOCs, have been barred from providing long distance services
in their respective regions, first as part of the Modified Final
Judgment in the AT&T case and now under the terms of the Telecom
Act. 
 
     Under Section 271 of the Act, a BOC, such as SBC, may not
provide in-region, long distance services until it demonstrates
to the FCC that it has met a variety of legal requirements
designed to open the local telephone markets in a particular
state to competition.  

     In considering whether to approve a BOC's application for
long distance authority in a particular state, the FCC must
consult with the Justice Department and give "substantial weight"
to its assessment as to whether the BOC should be allowed to
provide in-region, long distance service.

     In its evaluation of SBC's application, the Department
concluded that SBC:

     *    Failed to satisfy requirements under the Act in order
          to enter into long distance.  Specifically, SBC's
          application should be rejected because no new entrants
          in Oklahoma are yet providing residential service in
          competition with SBC, a prerequisite to SBC's long
          distance entry under the Act.

     *    Failed to comply fully with the Act's "competitive
          checklist" requirements that permit competitors to have
          access to certain SBC facilities and services.

     *    Failed to demonstrate that SBC's entry into long
          distance would be consistent with the public interest,
          in light of SBC's failure to satisfy the Act's market
          opening measures to enable other companies to compete
          with SBC for local telephone customers.

     In concluding that approval of SBC's application would not
be in the public interest, the Department set forth its basic
inquiry for evaluating BOC applications for long distance entry. 

     In essence, the Department will consider an application to
be in the public interest when a local market has been
"irreversibly opened to competition."  This standard, Dr. Marius
Schwartz, an economic expert retained by the Department,
explained, "strikes a good balance between properly addressing
the competitive concerns raised by BOC entry, and realizing the
benefits from such entry as rapidly as can be justified in light
of those concerns." 

     In Oklahoma, the Department concluded that SBC did not meet
this standard as it has yet to make available the statutorily
required facilities and services that it must provide to its
competitors who are otherwise willing and able to enter the local
market.

     SBC filed its application with the FCC on April 11, 1997. 
Under the terms of the Telecom Act, the FCC must approve or deny
the application by July 10, 1997.  
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