Long-Distance Rate Drop Seen

WASHINGTON — AT&T; long-distance rates will probably be forced down about 5% in June and may be reduced an additional 17% over the next three or four years, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission said today.

Mark S. Fowler said rate cuts of 12% since the breakup of the Bell System in 1984 are increasing the number of long-distance calls so much that efficiencies will make the reductions possible. AT&T; rate reductions are almost always matched by similar price cuts by long-distance competitors.