PUBLIC NOTICE![](media/image1.png){width="0.95in"
height="0.9055555555555556in"}

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

445 12th STREET, S.W.

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20554 **DA 00-1705**

News media information 202/418-0500 Fax-On-Demand 202/418-2830 Internet:
http://www.fcc.gov ftp.fcc.gov

### Released: August 1, 2000

COMMON CARRIER BUREAU RELEASES LIST OF CARRIERS FILING RURAL
CERTIFICATION LETTERS AND NOTIFICATIONS OF CHANGES IN STATUS

# CC Docket No. 96-45

On October 21, 1999, the Commission required rural carriers serving
study areas with more than 100,000 access lines to file certification
letters by July 1, 2000.[^1] The Commission required such carriers to
explain how they meet the criteria set forth in the definition of "rural
telephone company" in section 153(37) of the Communications Act, as
amended.[^2] Specifically, the Commission required a carrier
self-certifying as a rural telephone company as defined in section
153(37)(A) to include a description of the study areas in which it
provides service and the basis for its assertion that it meets the
requirements of this subsection.[^3] Similarly, the Commission required
a carrier self-certifying as a rural telephone company as defined in
section 153(37)(D) to include a list of all communities to which it
provides service, the population of those communities, the number of its
access lines serving those communities, and the total number of access
lines it serves.[^4] In subsequent years, carriers serving study areas
with more than 100,000 access lines need only file certification letters
if their status changes.[^5]

As of July 3, 2000, the following carriers serving filed rural
certification letters stating they meet the criteria in section
153(37)(D):[^6]

ALLTEL Arkansas

> ALLTEL Carolina (North)
>
> ALLTEL Georgia
>
> ALLTEL New York
>
> ALLTEL Pennsylvania
>
> Western Reserve Telephone Company (ALLTEL)
>
> CenturyTel of Washington
>
> Citizens Telecommunications Company of New York
>
> Commonwealth Telephone Company (Pennsylvania)
>
> Concord Telephone Company (North Carolina)
>
> Frontier Communications of Minnesota
>
> GTE Arkansas (Contel)
>
> GTE Kentucky (Contel)
>
> GTE Midwest -- Iowa
>
> GTE Northwest -- Idaho
>
> Carolina Telephone and Telegraph (Sprint -- North Carolina)
>
> Central Telephone Company (North Carolina Division -- Sprint)
>
> Central Telephone Company of Texas (Sprint)
>
> Central Telephone Company of Virginia (Sprint)
>
> Sprint-Florida
>
> Sprint Minnesota
>
> Sprint Missouri
>
> United Telephone Company of the Carolinas (Sprint -- South Carolina)
>
> United Telephone Company of Indiana (Sprint)
>
> United Telephone Company of Kansas (Sprint)
>
> United Telephone Company of Eastern Kansas (Sprint)
>
> United Telephone Company of Southcentral Kansas (Sprint)
>
> United Telephone Company of Southeastern Kansas (Sprint)
>
> United Telephone Company of New Jersey (Sprint)
>
> United Telephone Company of the Northwest (Sprint Washington and
> Oregon)
>
> United Telephone Company of Ohio (Sprint)
>
> United Telephone Company of Pennsylvania (Sprint)
>
> United Telephone Company -- Southeast (Sprint Tennessee and Virginia)
>
> United Telephone Company of Texas (Sprint)
>
> United Telephone Company of the West (Sprint Wyoming and Nebraska)
>
> TXU Communications Telephone Company (Lufkin-Conroe Telephone
> Exchange)
>
> Valor Telecommunications of New Mexico
>
> Valor Telecommunications of Texas

In addition, GTE Northwest -- Washington (Contel), filed a letter
notifying the Commission that it now has more than 100,000 access lines
and its status has changed from a rural telephone company to a non-rural
company.

These certification and notification letters have been filed with the
Secretary and placed on the record in CC Docket No. 96-45.

The full text of these letters and this document are 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. This document may also be purchased from
the Commission's copy contractor, International Transcription Service,
Inc. (ITS), 1231 20th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036, telephone
202-857-3800, facsimile 202-857-3805.

For further information, contact Katie King, Accounting Policy Division,
Common Carrier Bureau, at (202) 418-7400, TTY (202) 418-0484.

[^1]: *See Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service,
    Forward-Looking Mechanism for High Cost Support for Non-Rural LECs*,
    CC Docket Nos. 96-45, 97-160, Tenth Report and Order, 14 FCC Rcd
    20156, 20350-58 (1999) (*Tenth Report and Order*).

[^2]: *See* 47 U.S.C. § 153(37). The Commission determined that it could
    easily determine whether a carrier satisfies the criteria in
    subsections 153(37)(B) or (C) and only required additional
    information if the carrier claims rural status under the criteria in
    subsection 153(37)(A) or (D). Section 153(37)(B) provides that a
    local exchange carrier operating entity is deemed a rural telephone
    company to the extent that such entity "provides telephone service,
    including exchange access, to fewer than 50,000 access lines."
    Section 153(37)(C) provides that a local exchange carrier operating
    entity is deemed a rural telephone company to the extent that such
    entity "provides telephone exchange service to any local exchange
    carrier study area with fewer than 100,000 access lines. Thus, a
    carrier serving study areas with more than 100,000 access lines
    could not, by definition, meet the criteria set forth in section
    153(37)(B) or (C). *See* *Tenth Report and Order*, 14 FCC Rcd at
    20354.

[^3]: Section 153(37)(A) provides that a local exchange carrier
    operating entity is deemed a rural telephone company to the extent
    that such entity -- "provides common carrier service to any local
    exchange carrier study area that does not include either -- (i) any
    incorporated place of 10,000 inhabitants or more, or any part
    thereof, based on the most recently available population statistics
    of the Bureau of the Census; or (ii) any territory, incorporated or
    unincorporated, included in an urbanized area, as defined by the
    Bureau of the Census as of August 10, 1993." 47 U.S.C. § 153(37)(A).
    *See also Tenth Report and Order*, 14 FCC Rcd at 20354-55.

[^4]: Section 153(37)(D) provides that a local exchange carrier
    operating entity is deemed a rural telephone company to the extent
    that such entity -- "has less than 15 percent of its access lines in
    communities of more than 50,000 on the date of enactment of the
    Telecommunications Act of 1996." 47 U.S.C. § 153(37)(D). *See also
    Tenth Report and Order*, 14 FCC Rcd at 20358.

[^5]: *Tenth Report and Order*, 14 FCC Rcd at 20352, 20355.

[^6]: No carrier serving more than 100,000 access lines filed a
    certification stating that it met the criteria in section
    153(37)(A).