[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 99 (Tuesday, May 24, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-12603]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: May 24, 1994]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
47 CFR Part 64
[CC Docket No. 92-256, FCC 94-58]
Common Carriers; Open Network Architecture Requirements an
Nondiscrimination Safeguards
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Commission adopted an order applying to GTE Corporation
the same regulatory framework of Open Network Architecture (ONA)
requirements and nondiscrimination safeguards that apply to the Bell
Operating Companies (BOCs) for GTE's participation in the enhanced
services market. Under this order, GTE will be required to file an ONA
plan within nine months of the release of this order, file federal and
state ONA tariffs three months later, and implement ONA requirements
and nondiscrimination safeguards fifteen months from the release of
this order. The Commission stated that the public interest benefits of
applying these measures to GTE amply justify its taking the next
logical step toward an overall environment that will foster a fully
competitive market for the provision of enhanced services to the
American public.
EFFECTIVE DATE: June 23, 1994.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peggy Reitzel, Policy and Program
Planning Division, Common Carrier Bureau (202) 632-1300.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Paperwork Reduction Act
The requirements have been analyzed with respect to the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1980, as amended, 44 U.S.C. Sec. Sec. 3501-20. The
information collection contained herein is not subject to the clearance
provisions of 44 U.S.C. 3507 because it is imposed on less than nine
respondents.
Regulatory Flexibility Act
In the NPRM the Commission certified that the Regulatory
Flexibility Act of 1980 did not apply to this proceeding because the
rule amendments would not have a significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small business entities, as defined by section
601(3) of the Regulatory Flexibility Act. The rule changes directly
apply only to GTE which is considered dominant in its field of
operation. Neither the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business
Administration nor any commenting party challenged the Commission's
analysis. The Secretary of the Commission is required to send a copy of
this Report and Order, including the certification, to the Chief
Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration in accordance
with paragraph 605(b) of the regulatory Flexibility Act. Pub. L. No.
96-354, 94 Stat. 1164, 5 U.S.C. Section 601 et seq.
Summary of Report and Order
1. This is a summary of the Report and Order in Common Carrier
Docket No. 92-256, Application of Open Network Architecture and
Nondiscrimination Safeguards to GTE Corporation, adopted March 8, 1994,
and released April 4, 1994 (FCC 94-58). The full text of the
Commission's decision is available for inspection and copying, Monday
through Friday, 9 a.m.--4:30 p.m., in the FCC Reference Room (room
239), 1919 M Street, NW., Washington, DC 20554. The complete text of
the Report and Order may also be purchased from the Commission's copy
contractor, ITS, Inc., (202) 857-3800, 2100 M Street, NW., suite 140,
Washington, DC 20037.
2. Over the last eight years, the Commission established a
comprehensive regulatory framework of nonstructural safeguards,
including Open Network Architecture (ONA) requirements and
nondiscrimination safeguards, to govern the Bell Operating Companies'
(BOCs') participation in the enhanced services marketplace. Under ONA,
BOCs are required to offer unbundled ONA services to enhanced service
providers (ESPs). By requiring the BOCs to offer unbundled network
services to ESPs, ONA increases opportunities for enhanced services
providers (ESPs) to provide, and customers to receive, a wide range of
enhanced services. The nondiscrimination safeguards consist of Customer
Proprietary Network Information (CPNI) rules, Network Information
Disclosure rules, and nondiscrimination reporting requirements.
3. The Commission initially did not require local telephone
companies other than the BOCs to comply with ONA requirements and
nondiscrimination safeguards. The Commission stated that it would
revisit the issue of applying these requirements to GTE once initial
ONA implementation by the BOCs was completed. After gaining substantial
experience with the BOCs, on December 2, 1992, the Commission released
a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to seek comment on its proposal
to apply to GTE the ONA requirements and nondiscrimination safeguards
that govern the BOCs' participation in the enhanced services market (57
FR 62544, Dec. 21, 1992).
4. In the Report and Order adopted March 8, 1994 (FCC 94-58), the
Commission decided that it should no longer exempt GTE from complying
with ONA requirements and nondiscrimination safeguards. The Commission
concluded that applying these measures to GTE will extend greater
access to the largest non-BOC local telephone company, thus
facilitating the provision of additional information age services and
greater price competition to consumers.
5. GTE's primary argument against the imposition of these
requirements appeared to be the implementation costs. The Commission,
however, concluded that the benefits of applying these requirements to
GTE substantially outweigh the costs involved based on GTE's estimated
implementation costs. The Commission concluded that the implementation
costs are not greatly affected by inclusion of GTE's more dispersed,
rural service areas because, according to GTE, the costs of
implementing ONA are primarily fixed costs related to modifying GTE's
centralized systems.
6. In addition, the Commission concluded that GTE, by many
measures, is one of the largest local telephone companies in the United
States. When compared to the BOCs, GTE ranks second behind BellSouth in
total operating revenue, total gross plant, and the number of
employees. While GTE has many service areas that are smaller and more
rural than those of the BOCs, it has more working loops than
Southwestern Bell even if GTE study areas with less than 200,000
working loops are excluded. GTE also serves a number of major urban
areas in Florida, California, Hawaii, and Texas, that resemble BOC
service areas. The Commission concluded that consumers in GTE's large
service areas would benefit substantially from an environment that
fosters the competitive provision of enhanced services.
7. The Commission also concluded that GTE's voluntary ONA measures,
while commendable, fall short of the BOC standards and cannot achieve
the Commission's goals. Specifically, the Commission concluded that
GTE's network disclosure and customer proprietary network information
(CPNI) programs lack certain important elements contained in the BOC's
requirements. Also, GTE's voluntary program does not include disclosure
of important information that the BOCs must report. Thus, the
Commission required GTE to implement BOC ONA requirements and comply
with the BOC nondiscrimination safeguards.
8. Based on the experience gained in implementing ONA for the BOCs,
the Commission was able to streamline this process for GTE. The
Commission referred GTE to the numerous orders in the Computer III and
ONA proceedings that provide detailed review and guidance on how it
should implement ONA. The Commission required GTE to comply with the
comparably efficient interconnection requirements and all other ONA
requirements imposed in the Computer III and ONA proceedings. The
Commission did not require that GTE detail these measures in the ONA
plan it must submit to the Commission as long as GTE's ONA program
follows specific procedures approved for the BOCs and is consistent
with requirements set out in the ONA orders. If GTE wants to request
authority to meet the requirements in a different way, it must justify
the request in its ONA plan.
9. GTE is also required to participate in the Information Industry
Liaison Committee (IILC) beginning thirty days after publication of
this Order in the Federal Register. GTE also must report to the
Commission on its progress on IILC activities as the BOCs are required
to do.
10. GTE is required to demonstrate in its ONA plan that its
proposed initial offering of ONA services will adequately meet the
needs of enhanced service providers (ESPs) in its service areas. GTE
also must comply with the ONA deployment projection reporting
requirements applicable to the BOCs. This information must be filed
with GTE's ONA plan nine months after release of this order.
Thereafter, the deployment report must be filed annually with the other
annual reports on July 31 of each year beginning July 31, 1996. GTE
will also be subject to all of the annual and semi-annual ONA reporting
requirements that are applicable to the BOCs, and the reports must be
filed on July 31 of each year beginning July 31, 1996. In addition, GTE
is required to begin providing the semi-annual tariff report that the
BOCs are required to file. The Commission required GTE to begin
providing this report to the Commission on September 30, 1995, and
every six months thereafter.
11. The Commission also required GTE to comply with the
nondiscrimination requirements that govern the BOCs' provision of
enhanced services. These nondiscrimination safeguards consist of CPNI
rules, network information disclosure rules, and nondiscrimination
reporting requirements. The Commission stated that as a Tier 1 local
exchange carrier, GTE is already fully subject to the cost accounting
safeguards adopted in the BOC Safeguards Order.
12. The Commission required GTE to comply with the CPNI
requirements established for the BOCs within fifteen months of the
release of this Order. Since GTE may need additional time to implement
password ID systems, the Commission allowed GTE two years from the
release of this order to comply with the password ID requirements. GTE
must describe in its ONA plan how it will meet the CPNI requirements
and include the CPNI notification letter it proposes to send to its
multiline business customers.
13. GTE is also required to comply with the Commission's Operations
Support Systems (OSS) requirements within fifteen months from the
release of this Order. The Commission also required GTE to comply with
the network disclosure rules effective fifteen months from the release
of this Order. GTE is not required to detail how it meets these
requirements in its ONA plan as long as GTE's procedures follow
specific procedures approved for the BOCs and are consistent with the
Commission's requirements in a specific manner already approved for the
BOCs.
14. The Commission also required GTE to comply with the
nondiscrimination reporting requirements applicable to the BOCs. In
particular, GTE must file an annual affidavit stating that it does not
discriminate in providing ONA services to competitive ESPs and their
customers, including the installation, maintenance, and quality of such
services. The annual affidavit must be signed by the officer
principally responsible for ONA service quality, installation, and
maintenance. GTE is also required to file quarterly installation and
maintenance reports using the reporting categories adopted for BOC
reports unless GTE proposes and the Commission approves a different
format for its quarterly report in GTE's ONA plan. GTE's initial
installation and maintenance report is to cover the first full calendar
quarter following the implementation date for ONA requirements and
nondiscrimination safeguards and thereafter must be filed quarterly.
The report for each calendar quarter is due thirty days after the close
of that calendar quarter. GTE's format should be consistent with the
installation and maintenance system reports required of the BOCs and
described in the BOC ONA Reconsideration Order.
GTE may, however, attempt to justify different service categories
at a comparable level of detail. The Commission delegated authority to
the Chief, Common Carrier Bureau to review and to act on any requested
changes to the reporting categories.
15. The Commission concluded that the experience it has gained from
its lengthy review of the BOCs' initial ONA plans and tariffs, as well
as from the implementation of approved BOC ONA service offerings, will
enable it to streamline the review of GTE's initial ONA service
offerings. GTE shall submit an ONA plan within nine months of the
release of this Order and shall file state and federal ONA tariffs for
its ONA services within one year of the release of this order. The
Commission required that GTE implement all ONA requirements and
nondiscrimination safeguards fifteen months after the release of this
order unless another time period is specified in the order. These
requirements include those that have been developed in the Computer III
and Computer III remand proceedings and the ONA orders, as well as any
future requirements that the Commission may establish for the BOCs,
unless GTE is specifically exempted. The tariffs will be subject to the
requirements established in the ONA proceeding and the federal tariffs
will also be subject to the pricing and other requirements of CC Docket
No. 89-79, relating to the creation of access charge subelements and
cost support requirements for ONA. GTE must amend its initial federal
ONA tariff to include any additional requirements that are adopted so
close to the GTE tariff filing date that they cannot be reflected in
the initial tariff filing as soon as possible during the three month
public notice period.
16. The Commission described filing dates in this order as being a
certain number of months after a particular event. In such cases the
filing or other such date will be the same day of the month as the
triggering event, but the specified number of months later. Months
shall be counted beginning with the month after the one in which the
triggering event occurs. Filing dates falling on a weekend or official
federal government holiday will be moved to the next business day.
17. Finally, the Commission adopted the same preemption of state
network disclosure requirements for GTE that was established for the
BOCs in the BOC Safeguards Order. The Commission determined that no
other modification to the preemption of state requirements adopted in
the BOC Safeguards Order was warranted.
Ordering Clauses
18. Accordingly, It is ordered, that pursuant to Sections 1, 4 (i)
and (j), 201-205, 218, 220 & 404 of the Communications Act of 1934, as
amended, 47 U.S.C. 151, 154 (i) & (j), 201-205, 218, 220 & 404, and
Section 553 of the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C., 553, that
the policies, rules, and requirements set forth herein are adopted.
19. It is further ordered, That GTE shall file an ONA plan nine
months after release of this Order.
20. It is further ordered, That GTE shall file ONA tariffs three
months after the date for filing the ONA plan. The federal tariffs
shall be scheduled to become effective on three months public notice.
21. It is further ordered, That GTE shall implement ONA
requirements and nondiscrimination safeguards within fifteen months
from the release of this Order.
22. It is further ordered, That GTE shall provide the reports
described herein.
23. It is further ordered, That GTE shall comply with the CPNI
password ID requirements within two years from the release of this
Order.
24. It is further ordered, That the petition to expand the scope of
this proceeding filed by North American Telecommunications Association
(NATA) is denied.
25. It is further ordered, That the decisions in this Report and
Order shall be effective thirty days after publication in the Federal
Register.
List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 64
Communications common carriers, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Telephone, Computer technology.
Federal Communications Commission.
William F. Caton,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 94-12603 Filed 5-23-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-M