[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 197 (Thursday, October 12, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 53157-53159]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-25316]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
47 CFR Part 61
[CC Docket No. 95-155; FCC 95-419]
Toll Free Service Access Codes
agency: Federal Communications Commission.
action: Notice of proposed rulemaking.
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summary: The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeks comment on how toll
free numbers should be reserved, assigned, and used. Specifically, it
proposes to take steps to promote the efficient use of toll free
numbers; foster the fair and equitable reservation and distribution of
toll free numbers; smooth the introduction of new toll free codes as
numbers within operational codes are consumed; guard against
warehousing of toll free numbers; and determine how toll free vanity
numbers should be treated. The recent experience with 800 toll free
numbers leads the Commission to believe that it is necessary to
initiate a rulemaking proceeding through which the Commission seeks to
assure that, in the future, toll free numbers are allocated on a fair,
equitable, and orderly basis. The Commission also seeks to assure that
the transition period during which the numbers in one toll free code
are approaching full consumption and another code is being introduced
is smooth, without disruption of service to existing customers or
interruption in the availability of toll free numbers for new
customers.
dates: Comments are due on November 1, 1995, and reply comments are due
on November 15, 1995.
addresses: Federal Communications Commission, 1919 M Street,
Washington, DC 20554.
for further information contact: Irene Flannery, 202-418-2373. Network
Services Division, Common Carrier Bureau.
supplementary information: This summarizes the Commission's Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking in the matter of Toll Free Service Access Codes (CC
Docket 95-155, adopted October 4, 1995, and released October 5, 1995).
The file is available for inspection and copying during the weekday
hours of 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Commission's Reference Center,
room 239, 1919 M Street, NW., Washington, DC, or copies may be
purchased from the Commission's duplicating contractor, ITS, Inc., 2100
M Street, NW., Suite 140, Washington, DC 20037, phone 202-857-3800.
Paperwork Reduction Act
The following collections of information contained in this Notice
of Proposed Rulemaking have been submitted to the Office of Management
and Budget for review under Section 3507(d) of the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995. 44 U.S.C. 3507(d)). For copies of the OMB submission,
contact Dorothy Conway at 202-418-0217 or via internet to
dconway@fcc.gov. Comments are solicited on the Commission's need for
this information, whether the information will have practical utility,
the accuracy of the provided burden estimates, ways to enhance the
quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected, and
any suggested methods for minimizing respondents' burden, including the
use of automated information techniques. Persons wishing to comment on
the collections of information should direct their comments to Timothy
Fain, Office of Management and Budget, Room 101236NEOB, Washington, DC
20503, phone 202-395-3561 or via internet at fain__t@al.eop.gov.
Comments must be filed with the Office of Management and Budget within
60 days of this publication. A copy of any comments
[[Page 53158]]
filed with the Office of Management and Budget should also be sent to
the following address at the Commission: Federal Communications
Commission, Records Management Branch, room 234, Paperwork Reduction
Project, Washington, DC 20553. For further information, contact Judy
Boley, 202-418-0214.
Title: Toll Free Service Access Codes.
Action: Proposed collections.
OMB Control Number: None.
Respondents: Business or other for profit, including small
business.
Frequency of Response: On occasion.
Estimated Annual Burden:
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Paragraph
Collection No. Hours per response Total annual responses
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recordkeeping........................... 13 10 minutes................. 4 million.
Reporting............................... 31 1.......................... 1.
Certification........................... 34 30 minutes................. 138.
Coding.................................. 44 30 minutes................. 4 million.
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Total Annual Hours: 2,664,079.
Needs and Uses: The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking solicits public
comments to respond to the requests of industry to smooth the
transition to an expanded set of toll free service access codes,
starting with 888 and eventually deploying 877, 866, and so forth. In
light of the rapid unanticipated depletion recently experienced with
800 numbers, the Commission is compelled to initiate this rulemaking
proceeding.
Analysis of Proceeding
Background
Toll free service differs from traditional telephone service in
that the charges for toll free calls received are paid by the called
party (i.e., the 800 subscriber). Toll free numbers are contained in a
database known as the SMS/800. To obtain a toll free number, a
subscriber must choose an entity responsible for managing that
subscriber's SMS/800 record and coordinating with the service providers
that will provide the subscriber's toll free service. (That entity is
known as a RespOrg.) RespOrgs can gain access to and modify the
subscriber's record in the SMS/800 database. There are currently
approximately 138 RespOrgs.
Toll free service has proven to be very popular because it provides
callers with a free and convenient means of contacting parties holding
toll free numbers. Toll free numbers are widely used today for business
purposes, personal needs, and for access to such services as voice mail
and paging devices. The original toll free service access code was 800.
Of the approximately 8 million 800 numbers originally available, less
than 800,000 800 numbers are available for subscribers today.
Earlier in 1995, the industry selected 888 as the first relief toll
free code and reserved 877, 866, 855, 844, 833, and 822 as the
subsequent relief toll free codes. The industry originally estimated
that modification in the local exchange networks to enable use of 888
numbers would not be completed until April 1, 1996. The 888 deployment
date has now been advanced to March 1, 1996. After a week in June 1995
in which over 113,000 800 numbers were assigned, the industry
approached the Common Carrier Bureau for assistance because of fears
that the supply of 800 numbers would be depleted well in advance of the
deployment of 888 numbers. The Bureau developed a conservation plan
designed to slow the depletion of 800 numbers.
Summary
To prevent unnecessarily rapid depletion of the scarce numbering
resource, we must ensure that toll free numbers are used efficiently.
To that end, the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking first seeks comment on:
(1) Making sure that toll free numbers are available to subscribers who
need and want them rather than reserved or assigned to consumers or
businesses who did not ask for them; (2) requiring a one time deposit
into an escrow account for each toll free number held in reserve status
by RespOrgs, 800 Service Providers, third party agents and/or toll free
service subscribers; (3) revising the process for recycling previously
used toll free numbers; and (4) using personal identification numbers
(``PINs'') to expand the number of users who can use a single toll free
number.
Second, given the problems that arose with 800 numbers, as well as
the heightened interest in and demand for toll free numbers, it is
particularly important to have policies in place well in advance of the
deployment of new toll free codes. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
seeks comment on proposals regarding: (1) The reservation of new toll
free codes; (2) the phased opening of new toll free service; (3) the
implementation plan for the next toll free code beyond 888; and (4) the
tracking of toll free number usage.
Toll free numbers are currently reserved on a ``first come, first
served'' basis. Because this procedure seems to enable large RespOrgs
with multiple terminals that can access the database to reserve mass
quantities of toll free numbers in rapid order and may, as a result
place smaller, less technologically sophisticated RespOrgs at a
competitive disadvantage, the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposes
amending the ``first come, first served'' reservation system. The
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking also proposes activating new toll free
codes gradually to avoid a ``run on the bank'' of new toll free
numbers.
In an effort to prevent an exhaust situation in which all toll free
numbers from existing codes have been assigned by the time a new code
is opened, the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposes that the planning
for the introduction of new toll free codes start well in advance of
the projected total consumption of the previous toll free codes. The
early planning proposals include identifying a trigger that would alert
the industry that the current toll free code is nearing depletion and
that the next toll free code should be prepared for deployment, and
mandating the implementation of a new toll free code on six months
notice. To further facilitate planning and implementation, the Notice
of Proposed Rulemaking proposes requiring the administrator of the SMS/
800 database, currently Database Service Management, Inc., to submit
periodic reports to the Commission on the use of toll free numbers.
Third, the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeks comment on the
alleged warehousing and hoarding of toll free numbers. Warehousing
occurs when RespOrgs obtain toll free numbers from the database without
having an actual customer to whom those numbers are to be assigned.
Hoarding occurs when a toll free subscriber acquires more numbers from
a RespOrg than it immediately intends to use. Despite voluntary
guidelines limiting the quantity of toll free numbers that RespOrgs may
reserve, the rapid
[[Page 53159]]
depletion of 800 numbers prompted growing concern that 800 numbers were
being warehoused and hoarded. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
proposes imposing a permanent cap on the quantity of numbers a RespOrg
may hold in reserve status at any one time and requiring that RespOrgs
certify to the Commission that they have actual subscribers for each
number drawn from the SMS/800 database.
Fourth, the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeks comment on
assignment of vanity numbers. A vanity number is a telephone number for
which the letters associated with the number's digits on a telephone
handset spell a word of value to the number holder (e.g., ``1-800-
FLOWERS'' and ``1-800-THECARD''). For the purposes of this Notice,
vanity numbers also include any numbers in which holders have a
particular interest, be it economic or otherwise. The Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking seeks comment on whether the current holder of a
vanity 800 number should have a superior right vis-a-vis all other
interested parties to receive the equivalent 888 number, as well as any
right such a holder would have to the equivalent number in subsequent
toll free codes.
Fifth, the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeks comment on issues
related to toll free Directory Assistance, administration of the SMS/
800, and public awareness of and industry participation in the
implementation process. 800 Directory Assistance is currently a
monopoly service provided by AT&T. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
proposes combining 800 Director Assistance and 888 Directory
Assistance, and eventually Directory Assistance for subsequent toll
free codes, into an interchangeable toll free Directory Assistance
service. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking also seeks comment on
whether Database Services Management, Inc. should continue to
administer the toll free databases or whether some other entity should
assume that responsibility. Further, the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
seeks comment on whether public awareness initiatives, in addition to
those industry has already taken, are necessary to ensure that the
public is informed about the deployment of new toll free codes.
Sixth, to prevent one or a few RespOrgs from laying claim to large
percentages of a new toll free service access code on the day it
becomes available, the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeks comment on a
``circuit breaker'' model designed to regulate the rate at which toll
free numbers can be drawn from the database. The impetus for this
proposal is the recent experience when the 800-555 code was opened. On
the day it became available, one carrier claimed approximately 90% of
the numbers that were available. This froze out many small RespOrgs and
was widely regarded as unfair, although permitted by the industry
guidelines. The Commission believes that it would be sensible to
consider a circuit breaker mechanism to prevent a repeat of this
problem. Circuit breakers, in the context of securities trading, are
designed to limit program trading in volatile markets by restricting
access to computerized trading systems and by allowing the markets to
cool off by suspending trading for short periods of time. While a
circuit breaker model in the toll free context could not be identical
to one in the securities context, the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
proposes a model that has an effect over the toll free market similar
to the effect the circuit breaker rules have over the securities
market.
Finally, the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeks comment on how 888
and subsequent toll free codes should be tariffed. Since the Commission
believes that 800 and 888 will be used interchangeably and are
functionally the same, the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking tentatively
concludes that 888 and subsequent toll free codes should be treated,
for tariffing purposes, like existing 800 services. As a result, the
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking also tentatively concludes that the
existing Part 69 provisions for 800 service would also cover 888
service and local exchange carriers would not need to obtain a waiver.
Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
Pursuant to the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, 5 U.S.C.
Sec. 601, et seq., this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking may require
RespOrgs and 800 Service Providers to have a written request from a
toll free subscriber before assigning a toll free number and may be
required to retain such record for two years. The administrator of the
SMS/800 database, currently Database Services Management, Inc., will be
required to submit periodic reports to the Commission on toll free
number utilization. RespOrgs will be required to certify, under penalty
of false statement, the accuracy of certain subscriber information.
The Secretary shall send a copy of the Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking, including the Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, to
the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration in
accordance with paragraph 603(a) of the Regulatory Flexibility Act,
Public Law 96-354, 94 Stat. 1164, 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq. (1981).
Written public comments are requested in the Initial Regulatory
Flexibility Analysis. These comments must be filed in accordance with
the same filing procedures as other comments in this proceeding, but
they must also have a separate and distinct heading designating them as
responses to the Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis.
Ordering Clauses
Accordingly, It Is Ordered, That pursuant to Sections 1, 201-205,
218 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 161, 154,
201-205, 218, the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is hereby provided.
It Is Further Ordered That, the Secretary shall send a copy of this
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the
Small Business Administration in accordance with paragraph 603(a) of
the Regulatory Flexibility Act, Public Law 96-354, 94 Stat. 1164, 5
U.S.C. 601 et seq. (1981).
List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 61
Communications common carriers, Telecommunications.
Federal Communications Commission.
William F. Caton,
Acting Secretary.
FR Doc. 95-25316 Filed 10-11-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-M
