[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 87 (Tuesday, May 6, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 24583-24585]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-11683]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
47 CFR Part 64
[CC Docket No. 96-128; DA 97-805]
Pay Telephone Reclassification and Compensation
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Final rule; waiver.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: On April 15, 1997, the Common Carrier Bureau (``Bureau'')
granted a limited waiver of the Commission's requirement that effective
intrastate tariffs for payphone services be in compliance with federal
guidelines, specifically that the tariffs comply with the ``new
services'' test, as set forth in the Payphone Reclassification
Proceeding, CC Docket No. 96-128 [``Payphone Order'' 61 FR 52307
(October 7, 1997); ``Order on Reconsideration'' 61 FR 65341 (December
12, 1996)]. Local exchange carriers (``LECs'') must comply with this
requirement, among others, before they are eligible to receive the
compensation from interexchange carriers (``IXCs'') that is mandated in
that proceeding. Because some LEC intrastate tariffs for payphone
services are not in full compliance with the Commission's guidelines,
the Bureau granted all LECs a limited waiver until May 19, 1997 to file
intrastate tariffs for payphone services consistent with the ``new
services'' test, pursuant to the federal guidelines established in the
Order on Reconsideration, subject to the terms discussed therein.
DATES Effective: April 15, 1997.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Carowitz, 202-418-0960,
Enforcement Division, Common Carrier Bureau.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Synopsis of Order
1. Upon reviewing the contentions of the Regional Bell Operating
Company (``RBOC'') Coalition and the language it cites from the two
orders in the Payphone Reclassification Proceeding, the Bureau
concluded that while the individual BOCs may not be in full compliance
with the intrastate tariffing requirements of the Payphone
Reclassification Proceeding, they have made a good faith effort to
comply with the requirements. The RBOC Coalition concedes that the
Commission's payphone orders, as clarified by the Bureau Waiver Order,
mandate that the payphone services a LEC tariffs at the state level are
subject to the new services test and that the requisite cost-support
data must be submitted to the individual states. In addition, the RBOC
Coalition states that it will take whatever action is necessary to
comply with the Commission's orders in order to be eligible to receive
payphone compensation at the earliest possible date. Therefore, the
Bureau adopted an
[[Page 24584]]
order, which contains a limited waiver of the federal guidelines for
intrastate tariffs, specifically the requirement that LECs have filed
intrastate payphone service tariffs as required by the Order on
Reconsideration and the Bureau Waiver Order that satisfy the new
services test, and that effective intrastate payphone service tariffs
comply with the ``new services'' test of the federal guidelines for the
purpose of allowing a LEC to be eligible to receive payphone
compensation. The existing intrastate tariffs for payphone services
will continue in effect until the intrastate tariffs filed pursuant to
the Order on Reconsideration, the Bureau Waiver Order and the instant
order become effective. Because other LECs may also have failed to file
the intrastate tariffs for payphone services that comply with the ``new
services'' test of the federal guidelines, the Bureau applied this
limited waiver to all LECs, with the limitations set forth therein.
2. Consistent with its conclusions above and in the interests of
bringing LECs into compliance with the requirements of the Payphone
Reclassification Proceeding, the Bureau waived for 45 days from the
April 4, 1997 release date of the Bureau Waiver Order the requirement
that LEC intrastate tariffs for payphone services comply with the ``new
services'' test of the federal guidelines, as set forth in paragraph
163 of the Order on Reconsideration and clarified in the Bureau Waiver
Order. LECs must file intrastate tariffs for payphone services, as
required by the Payphone Reclassification Proceeding consistent with
all the requirements set forth in the Order on Reconsideration, within
45 days of the April 4, 1997 release date of the Bureau Waiver Order.
Any LEC that files these intrastate tariffs for payphone services
within 45 days of the release date of the Bureau Waiver Order will be
eligible to receive the payphone compensation provided by the Payphone
Reclassification Proceeding as of April 15, 1997, as long as that LEC
has complied with all of the other requirements set forth in paragraph
131 (and paragraph 132 for the Bell Operating Companies) of the Order
on Reconsideration, subject to the clarifications and limited waiver in
the Bureau Waiver Order. Under the terms of this limited waiver, a LEC
must have in place intrastate tariffs for payphone services that are
effective by April 15, 1997. The waiver permits the LEC to file
intrastate tariffs that are consistent with the ``new services'' test
of the federal guidelines set forth in the Order on Reconsideration, as
clarified by the Bureau Waiver Order. The existing intrastate payphone
service tariffs will continue in effect until the intrastate tariffs
filed pursuant to the Bureau's order become effective.
3. The RBOC Coalition and Ameritech have committed, once the new
intrastate tariffs are effective, to reimburse or provide credit to its
customers for these payphone services from April 15, 1997, if newly
tariffed rates, when effective, are lower than the existing rates. This
action will help to mitigate any delay in having in effect intrastate
tariffs that comply with the guidelines required by the Order on
Reconsideration, including the concern raised by MCI that the subsidies
from payphone services will not have been removed before the LECs
receive payphone compensation. A LEC who seeks to rely on the waiver
granted in the instant Order must also reimburse their customers or
provide credit, from April 15, 1997, in situations where the newly
tariffed rates are lower than the existing tariffed rates. The Bureau
noted, in response to the arguments raised by the IXCs, that its order
did not waive the requirement that subsidies be removed from local
exchange service and exchange access services, the ``harm'' to the IXCs
resulting from the delayed removal of subsidies from some intrastate
payphone service tariffs will be limited.
4. The Bureau concluded that the waiver it granted, which is for a
limited duration to address a specific compliance issue, is consistent
with, and does not undermine, the rules adopted by the Commission in
the Payphone Reclassification Proceeding. Therefore, it rejected the
various alternatives to granting a waiver that were suggested by the
American Public Communications Council (``APCC'') and the IXCs. More
specifically, it concluded that APCC's proposal to require the refiling
of all intrastate payphone service tariffs would unduly delay, and
possibly undermine, the Commission's efforts to implement Section 276
and the congressional goals of ``promot[ing] competition among payphone
service providers and promot[ing] the widespread deployment of payphone
services to the benefit of the general public. * * *''. In response
to Sprint's proposal that we delay the effective date of the LECs'
interstate carrier common line reductions, the Bureau concluded that
the better approach would be to evaluate requests for such treatment by
individual LECs on a case-by-case basis. In addition, the Bureau
declined to treat the request of the RBOC Coalition as an untimely
petition for reconsideration of the Commission's rules, because the
RBOC Coalition did not seek reconsideration of the rules adopted in the
Payphone Reclassification Proceeding, but instead sought additional
time, in a specific, limited circumstance, to comply with those rules.
5. In response to AT&T's arguments that a LEC must show proof that
its intrastate tariffs have removed payphone subsidies consistent with
Section 276, the Bureau noted the Commission concluded that ``[t]o
receive compensation a LEC must be able to certify'' that it has
satisfied each of the individual prerequisites to receiving the
compensation mandated by the Payphone Reclassification Proceeding. The
Commission did not require that the LECs file such a certification with
it. Nothing in the Commission's orders, however, prohibits the IXCs
obligated to pay compensation from requiring that their LEC payees
provide such a certification for each prerequisite. Such an approach is
consistent with the Commission's statement that ``we leave the details
associated with the administration of this compensation mechanism to
the parties to determine for themselves through mutual agreement.''
6. Waiver of Commission rules is appropriate only if special
circumstances warrant a deviation from the general rule and such
deviation serves the public interest. Because the LECs are required to
file, and the states are required to review, intrastate tariffs for
payphone services consistent with federal guidelines, which, in some
cases, may not have been previously filed in this manner at the
intrastate level, the Bureau found that special circumstances exist in
this case to grant a limited waiver of brief duration to address this
responsibility. In addition, it found that its grant of a waiver in
this limited circumstance, does not undermine, and is consistent with,
the Commission's overall policies in CC Docket No. 96-128 to reclassify
LEC payphone assets and ensure fair PSP compensation for all calls
originated by payphones. Moreover, the states' review of the intrastate
tariffs that are the subject of this limited waiver will enable them to
determine whether these tariffs have been filed in accordance with the
Commission's rules, including the ``new services'' test. Accordingly,
the Bureau granted a limited waiver for 45 days from the April 4, 1997
release date of the Bureau Waiver Order the requirement that LEC
intrastate tariffs for payphone services comply with the ``new
services'' test of the federal guidelines, as set forth in paragraph
163 of the Order on Reconsideration. The
[[Page 24585]]
order did not waive any of the other requirements set forth in
paragraphs 131-132 of the Order on Reconsideration.
Ordering Clauses
7. Accordingly, it is ordered, pursuant to Sections 4(i,), 5(c),
201-205, 276 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C.
154(i), 155(c), 201-205, 276, and Sections 0.91 and 0.291 of the
Commission's rules, 47 CFR 0.91 and 0.291, that limited waiver of the
Commission's requirements to be eligible to receive the compensation
provided by the Payphone Reclassification Proceeding, CC Docket No. 96-
128, is granted to the extent stated herein.
8. It is further ordered that this Order shall be effective upon
release.
List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 64
Communications common carriers, Telephone.
Federal Communications Commission.
William F. Caton,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 97-11683 Filed 5-5-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P
