[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 65 (Monday, April 6, 1998)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 16696-16697]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-8932]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 64

[CC Docket Nos. 96-149 and 96-61; DA 98-556]


Independent LECs Providing In-Region, Interstate, Interexchange 
Services on an Integrated Basis; Delay of Deadline

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Final rule; partial stay.

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SUMMARY: The Common Carrier Bureau of the Federal Communications 
Commission has released an Order staying the provision for the April 
18, 1998 deadline by which independent LECs providing in-region, 
interstate, interexchange services on an integrated basis must comply 
with the Commission's requirement that they provide these services 
through a separate affiliate. Petitions for reconsideration of the 
separate affiliate requirement are currently under consideration by the 
Commission and may not be decided by the April 18, 1998 deadline for 
compliance. To ensure that independent LECs do not incur compliance 
costs while the possibility of changes to the requirement still exists, 
the Order released by the Common Carrier Bureau stays the portion of 
the rule that provides the deadline for compliance until 60 days after 
the release of a Commission reconsideration order addressing this 
issue.

DATES: Effective March 24, 1998, 47 CFR 64.1903(c) published July 3, 
1997 (62 FR 35974) is stayed until 60 days after the release of the 
Commission's order on reconsideration in CC Docket Nos. 96-149 and 96-
61. The Commission will publish the date on which the stay expires in 
the Federal Register.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brent Olson, Common Carrier Bureau, 
Policy and Program Planning Division, (202) 418-7152.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Synopsis of Order

    In the LEC Classification Order, 62 FR 35974, July 3, 1997, which 
was released on April 18, 1997, the Commission revised its regulatory 
treatment of Bell Operating Companies (BOCs) and independent local 
exchange carriers (LECs) that provide domestic, interstate, 
interexchange, and international services. The Common Carrier Bureau 
has released this Order to stay the April 18, 1998 deadline by which 
independent LECs currently providing in-region, interstate, 
interexchange services on an integrated basis must comply with the 
Commission's requirement that they provide these services through a 
separate affiliate.
    In the LEC Classification Order, the Commission concluded that 
independent LECs must provide in-region, interstate, interexchange 
services through a separate affiliate that satisfies the separation 
requirements enumerated in the Fifth Report and Order, 49 FR 34824, 
September 4, 1984. The Commission recognized that independent LECs 
providing these services on an integrated basis face greater costs of 
complying with the Fifth Report and Order separation requirements than 
those already providing such services on a separated basis. 
Accordingly, the Commission allowed independent LECs providing in-
region, interstate, interexchange services on an integrated basis one 
year from the date of release of the LEC Classification Order (i.e., 
until April 18, 1998) to comply with the Fifth Report and Order 
separation requirements (47 CFR 64.1903(c).)
    Following the release of the LEC Classification Order, a number of 
petitioners sought reconsideration of a variety of issues, including 
the decision

[[Page 16697]]

to apply the Fifth Report and Order separation requirements to 
independent LECs providing in-region, interstate, interexchange 
services. These petitions currently are under consideration by the 
Commission and may not be decided by April 18, 1998, the deadline for 
compliance with the separate affiliate requirement. We find that it is 
in the public interest for the Commission to address and resolve, prior 
to the deadline for compliance, petitioners' claim that this 
requirement should not be applied to independent LECs, so such LECs 
need not incur compliance costs while the possibility of changes to 
this requirement still exists. Accordingly, we find good cause to stay 
Sec. 64.1903(c) which provides the date by which independent LECs 
providing in-region, interstate, interexchange services must comply 
with the Fifth Report and Order separation requirements until 60 days 
after release of a Commission reconsideration order addressing this 
issue.

Federal Communications Commission.
A. Richard Metzger, Jr.,
Chief, Common Carrier Bureau.
[FR Doc. 98-8932 Filed 4-3-98; 8:45 am]
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