ABSTRACT
The debate to be considered had to do with a decision of the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in December 1984 to require an increase in the charge of purchasing access to the long-distance network. The rate was to increase by one dollar per month in 1985 and another dollar per month in 1986, in the expectation of revenues increasing by one billion dollars in the first year. One participant represented the FCC and was called upon to explain and justify the decision, the other represented the Consumer Federation of America and was
called upon to express and explain his criticism of the decision. The two moderators were Mr Jim Lehrer and Mr Robert MacNeil.1
LEHRER: Here to explain why the FCC did what it did is Albert Halprin, chief of the agency’s common carrier bureau, which oversees telephone rates among many other things. First, why was this charge necessary?
