[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 215 (Thursday, November 6, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 60034-60035]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-29305]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
47 CFR Part 64
[CC Docket 96-128; DA 97-2162]
Pay Telephone Reclassification and Compensation Provisions of the
Telecommunications Act of 1996
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Final rule; petition for waiver.
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SUMMARY: On October 7, 1997, the Common Carrier Bureau granted, on its
own motion, a limited waiver of five months, until March 9, 1998, to
those local exchange carriers and payphone service providers that
cannot provide payphone-specific digits as required by orders in this
proceeding. This limited waiver applied to the requirement that local
exchange carriers provide payphone-specific coding digits to payphone
service providers, and that payphone service providers provide coding
digits from their payphones before they can receive per-call
compensation from interexchange carriers for subscriber 800 and access
code calls, and 0+ and inmate calls. The limited waiver recognized that
three parties had filed petitions for waiver of the payphone-specific
coding digit requirements.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 7, 1997.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rose Crellin or Greg Lipscomb, Formal
Complaints and Information Branch, Enforcement Division, Common Carrier
Bureau. (202) 418-0960.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A toll-free call transmitted by a local
exchange carrier (LEC) to an interexchange carrier (IXC) carries with
it billing information codes, called automatic number identification
(ANI), supplied by the LEC that assist the IXC in properly billing the
call. Currently, however, not all payphone calls carry the payphone-
specific coding digits necessary to identify the calls as payphone
calls, making per-call tracking and blocking more difficult.
In the Payphone Orders,1 we imposed a requirement that
LECs provide payphone-specific coding digits to payphone service
providers (PSPs), and that PSPs provide those digits from their
payphones before the PSPs can receive per-call compensation from IXCs
for subscriber 800 and access code calls.2 In the Order on
Reconsideration, we clarified that, to be eligible for per-call
compensation beginning October 7, 1997, payphones are required to
transmit specific payphone coding digits as a part of their ANI, which
will assist in identifying payphones to compensation
payers.3 Each payphone must transmit coding digits that
specifically identify it as a payphone, and not merely as a restricted
line.4 We also clarified that by October 7, 1997, LECs must
make available to PSPs, on a tariffed basis, such coding digits as a
part of the ANI for each payphone.
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\1\ Implementation of the Pay Telephone Reclassification and
Compensation Provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, CC
Docket No. 96-128, Report and Order, 61 FR 52307 (October 7, 1996),
11 FCC Rcd 20,541 (1996), (``Report and Order''); Order on
Reconsideration, 61 FR 65341 (December 12, 1996), 11 FCC Rcd 21,233
(1996)(''Order on Reconsideration'') (together the ``Payphone
Orders'').
\2\ See Report and Order, 11 FCC Rcd at 20,591, paras. 98-99;
Order on Reconsideration, 11 FCC Rcd at 21265-66, para. 64, and
21,278-80, paras. 93-99.
\3\ See Order on Reconsideration, 11 FCC Rcd at 21265-66, para.
64, and 21,278-80, paras. 93-99.
\4\ See id.
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We have received three requests for a waiver of the payphone-
specific coding digit requirements.5 Meanwhile, we have
granted, on our own motion, pursuant to Sec. 1.3 of our rules, a
limited waiver, until March 9, 1998, of the payphone-specific coding
requirement for those LECs and PSPs not yet able to provide
transmission of such digits. Those LECs and PSPs that are able to
transmit the required coding digits by October 7, 1997, remain
obligated to do so. Similarly, the remaining LECs and PSPs are
obligated to transmit the required coding digits as soon as they are
technically capable, but in any event no later than March 9, 1998.
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\5\ Requests were received from the United States Telephone
Association (USTA), the LEC ANI Coalition and TDS Communications
Corporation. Those petitions have been placed on public notice for
comments. See DA 97-2214, Pleading Cycle Established for Petitions
to Waive Payphone Coding Digits Requirements, October 20, 1997.
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During the period between October 7, 1997, and March 9, 1998,
payphones appearing on the LEC-provided lists of payphones will be
eligible for per-call compensation even if they do not transmit
payphone-specific codes. This waiver of the requirements applicable to
LECs and PSPs will provide LECs, IXCs, and PSPs with additional time
that the record indicates is necessary to implement the procedures
needed to transmit payphone-specific coding digits, without further
delaying the payment of per-call compensation required by section 276
of the Act.6
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\6\ This waiver does not change the obligations of LECs pursuant
to our requirements in Policies and Rules Concerning Operator
Service Access and Pay Telephone Compensation, Third Report and
Order, CC Docket No. 91-35, 61 FR 26466 (May 28, 1996), 11 FCC Rcd
17,021 (1996).
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[[Page 60035]]
We also include LECs that have non-equal-access switches in the
general coverage of this waiver. We do not address in this order the
special problems presented by non-equal-access switches that were
raised in the USTA Petition.7 We will be addressing in a
separate order the issues raised by parties regarding the provision of
payphone-specific coding digits by non-equal-access switches.
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\7\ USTA Petition at 9, 11.
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This waiver is effective immediately in order to ensure that all
PSPs receive per-call compensation effective October 7, 1997, as
required by the Payphones Orders.
This waiver is appropriate because special circumstances warrant a
deviation from the general rule, and such a deviation will serve the
public interest.8 The special circumstances are that
transmission of payphone-specific coding digits is not yet ready for
implementation for certain payphones. The industry is, however, working
on an expeditious resolution of this situation. The public interest is
served by this waiver because it allows the Commission to move forward
in implementing the statutory requirement 9 that PSPs
receive fair compensation for calls placed from their payphones.
Refusal to waive this requirement would lead to the inequitable result
that many payphone providers, particularly independent providers who do
not control the network modifications necessary to permit payphone-
specific coding digits to be transmitted, would be denied any
compensation while implementation issues are being resolved by the
industry. This limited waiver, moreover, will not significantly harm
any parties. The unavailability of these coding digits, for instance,
will not preclude IXCs from identifying payphone calls for the purpose
of determining the number of calls for which compensation is owned. Nor
will the waiver interefere with the possibly sixty percent of payphones
that currently are able to transmit payphone-specific coding digits.
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\8\ WAIT Radio v. FCC, 418 F.2d 1153, 1159 (D.C. Cir. 1969).
\9\ 47 U.S.C. 276(b)(A).
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Accordingly, pursuant to authority contained in sections 1, 4, 201-
205, 218, 226, and 276 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended,
47 U.S.C. 151, 154, 201-205, 218, 226, and 276, and Secs. 0.91, 0.291
and 1.3 of the Commission's rules, 47 CFR 0.91, 0.291 and 1.3, it is
ordered on the Commission's own motion that the time before payphone-
specific coding digits are required for per-call compensation is
extended until March 9, 1998, to the extent described herein.
It is further ordered that this order is effective upon release
thereof, and that the waiver included in this order is effective
October 7, 1997.
List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 64
Communications common carriers, Operator service access, Payphone
compensation, Telephone.
Federal Communications Commission.
A. Richard Metzger, Jr.,
Acting Chief, Common Carrier Bureau.
[FR Doc. 97-29305 Filed 11-5-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P
