[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 172 (Wednesday, September 7, 2005)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 53137-53139]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-17704]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 64

[CG Docket No. 02-386; DA 05-2266]


Rules and Regulations Implementing the Minimum Customer Account 
Record Exchange Obligations on All Local and Interexchange Carriers

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: In this document, the Commission seeks comment on proposed 
modifications/clarifications to rules governing the exchange of 
customer account information between local and long distance carriers.

DATES: Comments are due on or before September 22, 2005, and reply 
comments are due on or before October 3, 2005.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by CG 02-386, DA 05-2266 
by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Federal Communications Commission's Web site: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     People with Disabilities: Contact the FCC to request 
reasonable accommodations (accessible format documents, sign language 
interpreters, CART, etc.) by e-mail: [email protected] or phone: 202-418-
0530 or TTY: 202-418-0432.
    For detailed instructions for submitting comments and additional 
information on the rulemaking process, see the SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kelli Farmer, Consumer Policy 
Division, Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau, (202) 418-2512 
(voice), [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commission's 
document, DA 05-2266, released August 9, 2005. The full text of this 
document and copies of any subsequently filed documents in this matter 
will be available for public inspection and copying during regular 
business hours at the FCC Reference Information Center, Portals II, 445 
12th Street, SW., Room CY-A257, Washington, DC 20554, (202) 418-0270. 
This document may be purchased from the Commission's duplicating 
contractor, Best Copy and Printing (BCPI), Inc., Portals II, 445 12th 
Street, SW., Room CY-B402, Washington, DC 20554. Customers may contact 
BCPI, Inc. at their Web site: http://www.bcpiweb.com or by calling 1-
800-378-3160.
    To request materials in accessible formats for people with 
disabilities (Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format) 
send an e-mail to [email protected] or call the Consumer & Governmental 
Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice) or (202) 418-0432 (TTY). This 
document can also be downloaded in Word or Portable Document Format 
(PDF) at http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/policy.
    When filing comments, please reference CG Docket No. 02-386, DA 05-
2266. Comments may be filed using the Commission's Electronic Comment 
Filing System (ECFS) or by filing paper copies. See Electronic Filing 
of Documents in Rulemaking Proceedings, 63 FR 24121, May 1, 1998. 
Comments filed through the ECFS can be sent as an electronic file via 
the Internet to http://www.fcc.gov/e-file/ecfs.html. Generally, only 
one copy of an electronic submission must be filed. In completing the 
transmittal screen, commenters should include their full name, U.S. 
Postal Service mailing address, and the applicable docket or rulemaking 
number. Parties may also submit an electronic comment by Internet e-
mail. To get filing instructions for e-mail comments, commenters should 
send e-mail to [email protected], and should include the following words in 
the body of the message, ``get form .'' A sample 
form and directions will be sent in reply.
    Parties who choose to file by paper must send an original and four 
(4) copies of each filing. Filings can be sent by hand or messenger 
delivery, by electronic media, by commercial

[[Page 53138]]

overnight courier, or by first-class or overnight U.S. Postal Service 
mail (although the Commission continues to experience delays in 
receiving U.S. Postal Service mail). The Commission's contractor, 
Natek, Inc., will receive hand-delivered or messenger-delivered paper 
filings or electronic media for the Commission's Secretary at 236 
Massachusetts Avenue, NE., Suite 110, Washington, DC 20002. The filing 
hours at this location are 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. All hand deliveries must be 
held together with rubber bands or fasteners. Any envelopes must be 
disposed of before entering the building. Commercial and electronic 
media sent by overnight mail (other than U.S. Postal Service Express 
Mail and Priority Mail) must be sent to 9300 East Hampton Drive, 
Capitol Heights, MD 20743. U.S. Postal Service first-class mail, 
Express Mail, and Priority Mail should be addressed to 445 12th Street, 
SW., Washington, DC 20554. All filings must be addressed to the 
Commission's Secretary, Marlene H. Dortch, Office of the Secretary, 
Federal Communications Commission, 445 12th Street, SW., Room TW-B204, 
Washington, DC 20554. This proceeding shall be treated as a ``permit 
but disclose'' proceeding in accordance with the Commission's ex parte 
rules, 47 CFR 1.1200. Persons making oral ex parte presentations are 
reminded that memoranda summarizing the presentations must contain 
summaries of the substances of the presentations and not merely a 
listing of the subjects discussed. More than a one or two sentence 
description of the views and arguments presented is generally required. 
See 47 CFR 1.1206(b). Other rules pertaining to oral and written ex 
parte presentations in permit-but-disclose proceedings are set forth in 
section 1.1206(b) of the Commission's rules, 47 CFR 1.1206(b).

Synopsis

    On February 25, 2005, the Commission adopted mandatory, minimum 
standards governing the exchange of customer account information 
between local exchange carriers (LECs) and interexchange carriers 
(IXCs). In adopting these mandatory, minimum standards, the Commission 
relied in large measure on a compromise proposal that was filed with 
the Commission by a coalition of IXCs and LECs, including 
representatives of AT&T, MCI, Sprint, BellSouth, Qwest, SBC, and 
Verizon (Coalition).
    On April 15, 2005, and June 15, 2005, the Coalition proposed 
modifications and clarifications to the Order (final rules published at 
70 FR 32258, June 2, 2005). In particular, the Coalition identified 
certain aspects of section 64.4002 of the Commission's rules that, in 
its view, should be clarified and/or modified by the Commission ``in 
the interest of clarity and completeness.'' The Coalition's proposed 
clarifications and modifications to section 64.4002 are described 
immediately below:
     Among the categories of information that LECs must provide 
to IXCs in certain identified situations, section 64.4002(a)(6), 
(b)(6), (d)(5) and (f)(5) currently include the ``carrier 
identification code of the submitting LEC.'' The Coalition suggests 
that this phrase should be modified to state ``carrier identification 
code of the IXC.'' According to the Coalition, this ``mirroring'' of 
information back to the IXC by the LEC serves as a kind of 
``handshake'' and is needed to confirm that the LEC has properly 
identified the intended recipient of a particular notification.
     The Coalition asks the Commission to modify section 
64.4002(d). In particular, it proposes that a LEC that has received a 
notification from an IXC indicating that the IXC's customer no longer 
wishes to be presubscribed to any IXC (customer has selected ``no-PIC'' 
status) be required to respond to the IXC with a confirmation or reject 
notification. As proposed by the Coalition, section 64.4002(d) would 
read in pertinent part:
    (d) Customer contacts LEC or new IXC to change PIC, or current IXC 
to select no-PIC. When a LEC has removed at its local switch a 
presubscribed customer from an IXC's network, in response to a customer 
order, upon receipt of a properly verified PIC order submitted by 
another IXC, or upon receipt of the current IXC's request to change the 
PIC to no-PIC, the LEC must notify the customer's former IXC of this 
event.
     The Coalition proposes modifications to section 64.4002(e) 
and (g) to make those subsections consistent with other notification 
obligations of LECs adopted in the Order. First, it asks the Commission 
to modify section 64.4002(e) to include the effective date of a change 
to a customer's local service account as well as the carrier 
identification code of the IXC. Second, the Coalition asks the 
Commission to modify subsection (g) to include the customer's billing 
telephone number, working telephone, and billing name and address; the 
effective date of the change of local service provider; a description 
of the customer type (i.e., business or residential); the 
jurisdictional scope of the lines or terminals affected (i.e., 
intraLATA and/or interLATA and/or international); and the carrier 
identification code of the IXC.
     The Coalition suggests an additional clarification to 
section 64.4002(g) whereby the Commission would insert the phrase ``in 
LEC'' and remove the word ``new'' as specified in the bracketed 
portions of the following sentence: ``If the customer also makes a PIC 
change, the customer's former LEC must notify the customer's former 
PIC(s) of the change [in LEC] and the new LEC must notify the 
customer's [new] PIC of the customer's PIC selection.''

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Certification

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act requires that an initial regulatory 
flexibility analysis be prepared for notice and comment rulemaking 
proceedings, unless the agency certifies that ``the rule will not, if 
promulgated, have a significant economic impact on a substantial number 
of small entities.'' The RFA generally defines the term ``small 
entity'' as having the same meaning as the terms ``small business,'' 
``small organization,'' and ``small governmental jurisdiction.'' In 
addition, the term ``small business'' has the same meaning as the term 
``small business concern'' under the Small Business Act. A ``small 
business concern'' is one which: (1) Is independently owned and 
operated; (2) is not dominant in its field of operation; and (3) 
satisfies any additional criteria established by the Small Business 
Administration (SBA).
    On March 25, 2004, the Commission released a Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking (NPRM) seeking public comment on whether the Commission 
should establish mandatory, minimum standards governing the exchange of 
customer account information between local exchange carriers and 
interexchange carriers. As required by the RFA, the Commission 
incorporated into the NPRM an Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 
(IRFA) and sought public comment on the specific issues raised in the 
IRFA. Two entities filed comments addressing the IRFA. On February 25, 
2005, the Commission adopted the Order which, as discussed above, 
established extensive and detailed standards governing the exchange of 
customer account information between local exchange carriers and 
interexchange carriers. Consistent with the RFA, the Commission 
incorporated into the Order a Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 
(FRFA) addressing, among other things, the comments that had been filed 
in response to the IRFA.
    In this document, the Commission seeks comment on the Coalition's

[[Page 53139]]

proposed clarifications and modifications to Sec.  64.4002 of the 
Commission's rules. The proposed clarifications and modifications are 
in the nature of technical corrections to the Commission's customer 
account record exchange rules that, if adopted, would not have a 
significant economic impact on entities subject to those rules. For 
example, the Coalition asserts that its proposed modification to Sec.  
64.4002(d) would make this provision consistent with similar 
notification requirements adopted in the Order simply by requiring a 
LEC to confirm its receipt of a particular IXC-initiated notification 
with an appropriate response. The Coalition similarly proposes 
modifications to Sec. Sec.  64.4002(e) and (g) to include within the 
information exchanges prescribed by those subsections, the same 
standard categories of information that carriers routinely must provide 
in connection with other notification obligations adopted in the Order. 
If the Commission were to adopt the proposed modifications and 
clarifications, we believe that the compliance burden, and resulting 
economic impact on entities subject thereto, would be de minimus. 
Therefore, the Commission certifies for purposes of the RFA that the 
proposals in this document, if adopted, will not have a significant 
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
    The Commission will send a copy of this document, including a copy 
of this Initial Regulatory Flexibility Certification, to the Chief 
Counsel for Advocacy of the SBA. This initial certification will also 
be published in the Federal Register.

Federal Communications Commission.
Jay Keithley,
Deputy Bureau Chief, Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau.
[FR Doc. 05-17704 Filed 9-6-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P