[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 65 (Wednesday, April 6, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17457-17458]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-6559]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[DA 05-674]


End User Common Line Procedures

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This document establishes final procedures for resolving End 
User Common Line (EUCL) informal complaints. The Commission's actions 
are necessary in order to resolve several hundred longstanding informal 
complaints previously filed by payphone providers against local 
exchange carriers (LEC). The intended effect of the EUCL Procedures 
Order is to notify EUCL informal complainants that, if they intend to 
pursue their claims and collect damages, they must follow a number of 
specific procedures between Friday, April 22, 2005 and Friday, 
September 9, 2005, or risk losing the right to pursue certain claims. 
All informal complainants are strongly encouraged to read closely the 
EUCL Procedures Order.

DATES: EUCL informal complainants must file their Notices of Intent to 
Convert by Friday, April 22, 2005, if they wish to pursue their claims 
via the Commission's formal complaint process. The final deadline for 
actual conversion of informal complaints to formal complaints is 
extended to Friday, September 9, 2005, for those complaints for which a 
Notice of Intent to File is filed by Friday, April 22, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Submit electronic notification of intent to pursue existing 
informal complaints at the following Web address: http://www.fcc.gov/eb/eucl, click on the Complainant Notification Form. Alternatively, 
notice of intent to proceed may be made by certified mail (postmarked 
no later than April 22, 2005) to: EB/MDRD, Federal Communications 
Commission, 445 12th Street, SW., Room 4-C366, Washington, DC 20554, 
Attention: EUCL Notice. See Supplementary Information for address and 
mailing instructions for all converted formal complaints.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sandra Gray-Fields, 202-418-7330.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 25, 2005, the Enforcement Bureau of 
the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) released the EUCL 
Procedures Order establishing final procedures for resolving End User 
Common Line (EUCL) informal complaints. The critical legal issues 
raised by the existing EUCL informal complaints have been previously 
and definitively addressed in consolidated formal complaint proceedings 
before the Commission, see, e.g., Communications Vending Corporation of 
Arizona, Inc. et al. v. Citizens Communications Company f/k/a Citizens 
Utility Company and Citizens Telecommunications Company d/b/a Citizens 
Telecom, et al., Memorandum Opinion and Order, 17 FCC Rcd 24201 (2002), 
Communications Vending Corporation of Arizona, Inc., et al., v. FCC, et 
al., 365 F.3d 1064 (D.C.Cir. 2004). Accordingly, the EUCL Procedures 
Order informs all remaining informal complainants that they must 
initiate final resolution of their claims within the next few months. 
Specifically, each payphone provider who previously filed a EUCL 
informal complaint and who still wishes to pursue its claims, must now 
take the following actions: (1) notify the Commission by Friday, April 
22, 2005, of its intent to pursue its claim by inputting notification 
data into the Commission's Web site at http://www.fcc.gov/eb/eucl, 
click on the Complainant Notification Form, or notice of intent to 
proceed may be made by sending the information set forth in Paragraph 8 
of the EUCL Procedures Order by certified mail (postmarked no later 
than April 22, 2005) to: EB/MDRD, Federal Communications Commission, 
445 12th Street, SW., Room 4-C366, Washington, DC 20554, Attention: 
EUCL Notice; (2) make a good faith effort to settle its claim against 
the LEC prior to filing a formal complaint; and, (3) if settlement 
efforts are unsuccessful, file a formal complaint by Friday, September 
9, 2005, in accordance with the streamlined procedures described in the 
EUCL Procedures Order.
    The EUCL Procedures Order may have a further impact on a 
complainant's right to recover damages. All informal complainants 
should read thoroughly the EUCL Procedures Order. If a complainant 
fails to provide Notice of Intent to File as described herein and in 
the EUCL Procedures Order, that complainant will not be able to pursue 
its claim further via the Commission's formal complaint process. The 
Enforcement Bureau has deferred the mandatory filing date for the 
conversion of informal complaints to formal complaints numerous times, 
see, e.g., Informal Complaints filed by Independent Payphone Service 
Providers against Various Local Exchange Carriers Seeking Refunds of 
End User Common Line Charges, Order, 16 FCC Rcd 3669 (CCB 1999); 
Informal Complaints filed by Independent Payphone Service Providers 
against Various Local Exchange Carriers Seeking Refunds of End User 
Common Line Charges, Order, 2004 WL 2973797, File Nos. IC-98-42853, et 
al., DA No. 04-4022 (EB Rel. Dec. 22, 2004). The extension of the 
conversion date in the EUCL Procedures Order to September 9, 2005 is 
considered to be the final extension. Formal complainants must deliver 
the following copies of the

[[Page 17458]]

newly converted formal complaint to the following addresses on or 
before September 9, 2005: (a) the original copy of the newly converted 
formal complaint should be delivered, along with the requisite filing 
fee, to the Federal Communications Commission, Enforcement, PO Box 
358120, Pittsburgh, PA 15251-5120; (b) one copy of the formal complaint 
should be delivered to Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications 
Commission, 445 12th Street SW., Room TW-204(B), Washington, DC 20554; 
and, (c) two copies of the formal complaint should be delivered to 
Market Disputes Resolution Division, Enforcement Bureau, Federal 
Communications Commission, 445 12th Street SW., Room TW-204(B), 
Washington, DC 20554.
    The complete text of the EUCL Procedures Order is available for 
inspection and copying during normal business hours in the FCC 
Reference Information Center, Portals II, 445 12th Street SW., Room CY-
A257, Washington, DC 20554. This document may also be purchased from 
the Commission's duplicating contractor, Best Copy and Printing, Inc. 
(BCPI), Portals II, 445 12th Street, SW., Room CY-B402, Washington, DC 
20554, telephone 202-863-2893, facsimile 202-863-2898, or via e-mail at 
http://www.bcpiweb.com. An electronic copy of the EUCL Procedures Order 
is also available at http://www.fcc.gov/eb/mdrd/Items.html.
    The Commission will not send a copy of this Order pursuant to the 
Congressional Review Act, see 5 U.S.C. 801 (a)(1)(A), because there are 
no new rules attached to the Notice and the Order simply responds to 
informal complaints previously filed by parties to this particular 
Commission proceeding.

Federal Communications Commission.
Christopher N. Olsen,
Deputy Chief, Enforcement Bureau.
[FR Doc. 05-6559 Filed 4-5-05; 8:45 am]
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