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 PUBLIC  NOTICE  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12th  St.,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  News  Media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  Fax-  On-  Demand  202  /  418-  2830  TTY  202  /  418-  2555  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  ftp.  fcc.  gov 
 DA  00-  930 
 April  27,  2000 

 COMMON  CARRIER  BUREAU  SEEKS  FURTHER  COMMENT  ON 
 TELEGATES  PROPOSAL  FOR  PRESUBSCRIPTION  TO 
 411  DIRECTORY  ASSISTANCE  SERVICES 

 CC  DOCKET  NO.  99-  273 
 CC  DOCKET  NO.  98-  67 

 Pleading  Cycle  Established 
 COMMENTS:  May  30,  2000  REPLY  COMMENTS:  June  14, 
 2000 

 INTRODUCTION 
 In  this  Public  Notice,  the  Common  Carrier  Bureau  (Bureau)  solicits  comment  on  Telegate, 
 Inc.  s  (  Telegate)  proposal  in  CC  Docket  99-  273  that  the  Federal  Communications  Commission 
 (Commission)  enhance  competition  in  the  directory  assistance  market  by  requiring  local  exchange 
 carriers  (LECs)  to  implement  presubscription  to  the  N11  code  411.  Specifically,  we  solicit 
 comments  on  the  technical  feasibility  and  economic  viability  of  requiring  LECs  to  implement 
 presubscription  to  N11  codes  in  all  pertinent  proceedings.  This  includes  presubscription  to  411 
 in  the  directory  assistance  proceeding,  as  well  as  presubscription  to  711  for 
 Telecommunications  Relay  Service  (TRS). 

 BACKGROUND 
 On  September  9,  1999,  the  Commission  released  the  Third  Report  and  Order,  Second 
 Order  on  Reconsideration,  and  Notice  of  Proposed  Rulemaking  (  Notice).  1  In  the  Notice,  the 
 Commission  tentatively  concluded  that  competition  in  the  directory  assistance  market  is  in  the 

 1  Implementation  of  the  Telecommunications  Act  of  1996,  Telecommunications  Carriers  Use  of  Customer 
 Proprietary  Network  Information  and  Other  Customer  Proprietary  Network  Information  and  Other  Customer 
 Information,  Implementation  of  the  Local  Competition  Provisions  of  the  Telecommunications  Act  of  1996,  Provision 
 of  Directory  Listing  Information  under  the  Telecommunications  Act  of  1934,  as  Amended,  Third  Report  and  Order, 
 CC  Docket  No.  96-  115,  Second  Order  on  Reconsideration,  CC  Docket  No.  96-  98,  and  Notice  of  Proposed 
 Rulemaking,  CC  Docket  No.  99-  273,  FCC  99-  227  (1999)  (Notice). 
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 public  interest.  2  However,  the  Commission  also  tentatively  concluded  that  competitive  directory 
 assistance  providers  are  unable  to  fully  compete  without  equal  access  to  the  local  exchange 
 carriers  directory  assistance  databases.  3  Therefore,  the  Commission  invited  comment  on  whether 
 certain  competitive  directory  assistance  providers  are  providers  of  telephone  exchange  service  or 
 telephone  toll  service  for  the  purposes  of  section  251(  b)(  3)  of  the  Telecommunications  Act  of 
 1996  (the  Act).  The  Commission  also  sought  comment  on  whether  competitive  directory 
 assistance  providers  that  are  not  providers  of  telephone  exchange  service  or  telephone  toll  service 
 are  entitled  to  nondiscriminatory  access  to  directory  assistance,  including  access  to  directory 
 assistance  databases.  4 

 On  October  13,  1999,  Telegate  filed  comments  in  response  to  the  Notice.  In  its  comment  s, 
 Telegate  proposed  opening  up  411  to  competition  by  allowing  customers  to  choose  their  provider  of 
 directory  assistance  service,  just  as  they  can  choose  their  primary  interexchange  carrier  for  long 
 dist  ance  services.  No  reply  comment  s  were  filed  in  response  to  this  port  ion  of  Telegat  es  comment  s. 

 On  February  9,  2000,  Telegate  met  with  Bureau  staff  members  to  discuss  the  Telegate  411 
 presubscription  proposal.  At  the  Bureaus  suggestion,  on  March  10,  2000,  Telegate  filed  an  ex  parte 
 illustrating,  in  further  detail,  its  411  presubscription  proposal.  5  On  March  28,  2000,  Telegate  again 
 met  with  Bureau  and  Office  of  Engineering  and  Technology  staff  to  discuss  Telegates  ex  parte  and 
 proposal. 

 DISCUSSION 
 On  t  he  basis  of  Telegat  es  comment  s  and  Telegat  es  ex  parte  presentations  in  CC  Docket  99- 
 273,  the  Bureau  first  solicits  comments  on  the  economic  viabilit  y  and  technical  feasibilit  y  of  the 
 Telegate  411  presubscription  proposal. 

 Telegate  asserts  that  411  presubscription  is  technically  feasible  for  directory  assistance  using 
 the  Signaling  System  7  (SS7)  network,  and  Advanced  Intelligent  Network  (AIN)  features  already 
 deployed  nationwide.  6  The  Bureau  seeks  comment  on  this  assertion,  both  concerning  whether 
 presubscription  to  411  can  be  implemented  in  the  manner  proposed  by  Telegate,  and  also  whether 
 the  AIN  features  necessary  to  implement  Telegates  proposal  are  in  fact  already  deployed  on  a 
 nationwide  basis.  Telegate  also  asserts  that  the  adoption  of  its  proposal  would  require  a  modest 
 investment  in  upgrading  the  SS7  infrastructure.  7  The  Bureau  seeks  comment  on  Telegates  assertion 
 and  also  to  the  extent  to  which  any  commenting  party  believes  that  AIN  features  and  functionalities 
 (both  hardware  and  software)  would  have  to  be  expanded  or  augmented  to  implement  Telegates 
 411  presubscription  proposal  (e.  g.,  by  the  addition  of  new  Service  Control  Points  to  accommodate 
 the  411  database.) 

 2  Id.  at  para.  183. 
 3  Id.  at  para.  190. 
 4  Id.  at  para.  184. 
 5  Letter  with  attachments  from  Kelly  Cameron,  Powell,  Goldstein,  Frazer,  and  Murphy  LLP,  on  behalf  of 

 Telegate,  Inc.,  dated  March  10,  2000  (Telegate  March  10  ex  parte).  6 
 Telegate  March  10  ex  parte  at  12-  14.  7 
 Id.  at  14. 
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 Telegate  also  asserts  that  the  implementation  of  411  presubscription  as  set  forth  in  the 
 Telegate  March  10  ex  parte  is  economically  viable  for  directory  assistance,  and  estimates  that  the  total 
 cost  of  implement  ing  it  s  proposal  would  be  less  than  23  million  dollars  wit  h  an  ongoing  annual  expense 
 of  7.  1  million  dollars  8  .  Telegate  also  estimates  a  one-  time  cost  of  $  0.11  per  subscriber  for  the 
 implementation  of  411  presubscription  for  a  market  that  Telegate  estimates  to  be  3.3  billion  dollars  a 
 year.  9  The  Bureau  seeks  comment  on  these  assertions.  The  Bureau  also  requests  comment  on  the 
 total  cost  of  implementing  the  Telegate  411  presubscription  proposal,  based  upon  a  general 
 breakdown  of  itemized  costs  that  would  provide  a  reasonable  foundation  for  such  estimates.  Further, 
 the  Bureau  requests  comment  on  how  much  of  the  total  estimated  cost  should  be  passed  onto 
 consumers  and  in  what  manner  should  consumers  be  charged. 

 Telegate  suggests  that  411  presubscription  should  be  implemented  via  a  balloting  procedure.  10  .  The  Bureau  also  seeks  comment  on  whether  balloting  would  be  the  most  equitable  and 
 procompetitive  manner  of  implementing  411  presubscription;  or  whether  there  is  a  better  alternative 
 to  balloting.  If  the  Commission  were  to  require  the  implementation  of  411  presubscription,  how  else 
 should  customers  be  allocated  initially  to  competing  directory  assistance  providers?  The  Bureau  also 
 seeks  comment  on  whether  a  lower  cost  alternative  to  411  presubscription  to  open  the  directory 
 assistance  market  to  competition  would  be  to  require  the  provision  of  directory  assistance  services  by 
 all  competing  entities  through  1010  access  codes  and  earmark  the  411  code  for  purposes  other 
 than  directory  assistance.  We  seek  comment  on  the  consumer  impact  and  public  interest  implications 
 of  such  an  alternative. 

 In  its  proposal,  Telegate  does  not  address  whether  a  directory  assistance  database 
 administrator  would  be  necessary  to  maintain  the  correct  correlation  between  customers  and  their 
 presubscribed  directory  assistance  providers,  or  to  ensure  that  the  telephone  numbers  in  the 
 database  are  kept  up-  to-  date.  The  Bureau  seeks  comment  on  whether  such  an  administrator 
 would  be  necessary  and  how  such  an  administrator  would  be  chosen.  Further,  the  Bureau  seeks 
 comment  on  the  potential  cost  of  a  directory  assistance  administrator,  particularly  any  costs 
 associated  with  customer  changes  of  directory  assistance  .  Finally,  the  Bureau  seeks  comment  on 
 t  he  technical  feasibilit  y  and  economical  viabilit  y  of  similarly  implement  ing  presubscript  ion  to  ot  her  N11 
 codes,  such  as  711  access  to  TRS,  and  whether  it  would  serve  the  public  interest  to  provide 
 presubscription  to  other  N11  numbers. 

 Interested  parties  may  file  comments  concerning  this  matter  on  or  before  May  30,  2000,  and 
 reply  comments  on  or  before  June  14,  2000.  All  filings  must  reference  Docket  Nos.  99-  273  and  98-  67. 
 Send  an  original  and  four  copies  to  the  Commission  Secretary,  Magalie  Roman  Salas,  Portals  II,  445 
 12th  Street,  SW,  Suite  TW-  A325,  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  and  two  copies  to  Al  McCloud,  Network 
 Services  Division,  Portals  II,  445  12th  Street,  S.  W.,  Room  6A-  320.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554. 

 8  Id.  at  14. 
 9  Id.  at  15. 
 10  Id.  at  16-  18. 
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 A  copy  of  the  comments  filed  in  FCC  99-  273,  including  the  Telegate  March  10  ex  parte,  may  be 
 obtained  during  regular  business  hours  at  the  FCC  Reference  Center,  Portals  II,  445  12th  Street,  S.  W., 
 Suite  CY-  A257,  Washington,  D.  C.,  20554,  (202)  418-  0267  or  through  the  FCC's  duplicating 
 contractor,  International  Transcription  Services,  Inc.  (ITS,  Inc.),  1231  20th  Street,  N.  W.,  Washington, 
 DC  20036,  at  (202)  857-  3800  (voice/  TRS)  (202)  293-  8810  (TTY),  (202)  857-  3805  (fax),  or 
 service@  itsdocs.  com  (e-  mail).  Copies  of  the  comments  and  the  Telegate  March  10  ex  parte  may  also 
 be  obtained  from  the  Internet  via  the  FCCs  Electronic  Comment  Filing  System  (ECFS)  at 
 http://  izzy.  fcc.  gov/  prod/  ecfs/  s_  a/.  Parties  interested  in  obtaining  the  comments  from  the  ECFS 
 should  use  the  docket  number  99-  273  as  the  search  term. 

 For  further  information  contact  Robin  Smolen  of  the  Common  Carrier  Bureau,  Network 
 Services  Division,  at  (202)  418-  2353  (voice)  or  rsmolen@  fcc.  gov,  or  Dennis  Johnson  of  the  Common 
 Carrier  Bureau,  Network  Services  Division,  at  (202)  418-  0809  (voice)  or  dcjohnson@  fcc.  gov.  The 
 TTY  number  is  (202)  418-  0484. 

 -FEDERAL  COMMUNICATIONS  COMMISSION- 
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