LAW & REGULATION

FCC Orders Rate Reduction: The federal agency ordered the nation’s largest local telephone companies to reduce by $486 million, about 4.5%, the amount they charge long-distance companies for access to local networks. Smaller phone companies were allowed to raise their rates about $30 million. The big phone companies, including the seven regional Bell companies, proposed $431 million in net reductions. Their plan included an increase of $14 million, a bit over 0.5%, for specialized services such as toll-free 800 services. The FCC ordered an additional $55 million in reductions, saying the companies erred in calculating some costs. The new rates are effective July 1.