77912 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 249 / Wednesday, December 29, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 04–28357 Filed 12–28–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

47 CFR Parts 1, 20, and 43 

[WC Docket No. 04–141; FCC 04–266] 

Local Telephone Competition and 

Broadband Reporting

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: In this document, the Federal 

Communications Commission extends 

and modifies the FCC Form 477 local 

competition and broadband data 

gathering program, established by the 

Commission’s Data Gathering Order

published Wednesday, April 12, 2000, 

65 FR 19675.

DATES: The rules in this document 

contain information collection 

requirements that have not been 

approved by OMB. The Federal 

Communications Commission will 

publish a document in the Federal 

Register announcing the effective date. 

Compliance date: September 1, 2005. 

Providers subject to the requirements 

and regulations adopted herein shall 

complete and file the amended FCC 

Form 477 on the compliance date and 

semiannually thereafter.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ellen Burton, Assistant Chief, James 

Eisner, Senior Economist, or Thomas J. 

Beers, Deputy Chief, Industry Analysis 

and Technology Division, Wireline 

Competition Bureau, at (202) 418–0940. 

For additional information concerning 

the information collection(s) contained 

in this document, contact Judith B. 

Herman at (202) 418–0214, or via the 

Internet at Judith-B.Herman@fcc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a 

summary of the Commission’s Report 

and Order (Order) in WC Docket No. 

04–141, adopted on November 9, 2004, 

and released on November 12, 2004. 

The full text of this document is 

available on the Commission’s Web site 

Electronic Comment Filing System and 

for public inspection Monday through 

Thursday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and 

Friday from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in the 

FCC Reference Center, Room CY–A257, 

445 Twelfth Street, SW., Washington, 

DC 20554. Alternative formats are 

available to persons with disabilities by 

contacting Brian Millin at (202) 418–

7426 or TTY (202) 418–7365. The full 

text of the NPRM may also be purchased 

from the Commission’s duplicating 

contractor, Best Copy and Printing, Inc., 

Room CY–B402, 445 Twelfth Street, 

SW., Washington, DC 20554, telephone 

(202) 488–5300, facsimile (202) 488–

5563, or through www.bcpiweb.com. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

This Order contains modified 

information collection requirements 

subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act 

of 1995 (PRA), Public Law 104–13. It 

will be submitted to OMB for review 

under section 3507(d) of the PRA. 

Summary of the Report and Order 

1. In this Order, we adopt rules and 

a standardized form to improve our 

Form 477 local competition and 

broadband data gathering program, 

including extending the program for five 

years beyond its currently designated 

sunset in March 2005, eliminating 

existing reporting thresholds, and 

gathering more granular data from 

service providers. The information 

collected in the Form 477 program helps 

the Commission and the public 

understand the extent of local telephone 

competition and broadband 

deployment, which is important to the 

nation’s economic, educational, and 

social well-being. The improvements we 

adopt here, which include some but not 

all of the modifications proposed in our 

recent Data Collection NPRM, are 

necessary to ensure that the 

Commission can continue to effectively 

evaluate broadband and local 

competition developments as they affect 

all Americans. At the same time, we 

have acted to minimize, wherever 

possible, the administrative burdens 

imposed on reporting entities by the 

modified Form 477 program. 

2. The Data Gathering Order

established a reporting program (using 

the FCC Form 477) to collect basic 

information about two critical areas of 

the communications industry: the 

deployment of broadband services and 

the development of local telephone 

service competition. The Commission 

concluded that collecting this 

information would materially improve 

its ability to develop, evaluate, and 

revise policy in these rapidly changing 

areas and provide valuable benchmarks 

for Congress, the Commission, other 

policy makers, and consumers. Since 

adoption of the Form 477 in 2000, 

broadband service providers and local 

telephone service providers have 

reported data ten times, and we have 

issued regular reports based in 

significant part on this information. In 

the Data Gathering Order, the 

Commission adopted a sunset provision 

pursuant to which the collection 

program terminates after five years (i.e., 

in March 2005) unless the Commission 

acts to extend it. 

3. Form 477 includes separate 

sections on broadband deployment, 

local telephone service competition, and 

mobile telephone service provision. In 

the Data Gathering Order, the 

Commission required entities to report 

only when they meet or exceed defined 

reporting thresholds, and, then, to 

complete only those portions of the 

form for which they meet or exceed the 

reporting thresholds. The Commission 

required entities that meet a threshold 

to file data on a state-by-state basis. The 

Commission also required facilitiesbased providers of broadband 

connections and local exchange carriers 

(LECs) to report lists of the Zip Codes 

in which they serve end users, for each 

state for which they complete a form. In 

the case of broadband connections, 

reporting entities include incumbent 

and competitive LECs, cable companies, 

operators of terrestrial and satellite 

wireless facilities, municipalities, and 

any other facilities-based provider of 

broadband connections to end users. 

4. In the Data Collection NPRM, we 

proposed to: (1) Extend the data 

collection for an additional five years; 

(2) modify Form 477 to collect moredetailed information about broadband 

connection speeds and the localized 

deployment of broadband technologies; 

(3) collect information about 

subscribership to bundled local and 

interstate long distance telephone 

services; and (4) eliminate or revise 

those local telephone service questions 

that elicit imprecise or infrequently 

used information. We also invited 

comment on whether we should 

eliminate or lower the current reporting 

thresholds; modify our policies for 

publishing or sharing Form 477 data; 

require filers to categorize broadband 

connections according to the 

information transfer rates observed by 

end users; and require filers to report 

numbers of broadband connections in 

service by Zip Code or technology, or, 

alternatively, by Zip Code, technology, 

and speed. 

5. We have considered the record of 

this proceeding, including comment 

about reporting burdens associated with 

current Form 477 reporting 

requirements, potential burdens 

associated with additional reporting 

requirements proposed or otherwise 

noticed for discussion in the Data 

Collection NPRM, and potential burdens 

associated with alternatives suggested 

by the parties, as well as our experience 

with the Form 477 to date. As discussed 

below, in this Order we: (1) Extend the 

Form 477 program for five years beyond 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 249 / Wednesday, December 29, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 77913

its currently designated sunset in March 

2005; (2) eliminate reporting thresholds; 

and (3) adopt various modifications to 

the Form 477.

6. Five-Year Extension. We conclude 

that it is reasonable to extend the Form 

477 program for five years beyond the 

current March 2005 sunset given our 

statutory obligations to study and report 

on the availability of broadband 

capability, as well as our continuing 

obligations to promote 

telecommunications services 

competition generally. We conclude that 

extending the Form 477 program for an 

additional five years with the 

modifications discussed below will 

materially improve the Commission’s 

ability to develop, evaluate, and revise 

policy in the rapidly changing areas of 

broadband deployment and local 

telephone competition, and provide 

valuable benchmarks for Congress, the 

Commission, other policy makers, and 

consumers. As discussed in more detail 

in the following sections and in the 

Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

attached to this Order, we also conclude 

that extending the Form 477, as 

modified, will not impose an undue 

burden on the entities that are required 

to report. In this regard, we have taken 

or will take the following steps to 

reduce associated burdens: (1) We 

decline to adopt certain modifications to 

the Form 477 proposed in the Data 

Collection NPRM, including the 

proposed requirement that filers 

categorize broadband connections 

according to the information transfer 

rate (speed) actually observed by the 

end user; (2) we eliminate various 

questions from the wireline local 

telephone section of the form; (3) we 

eliminate the requirement that filers 

seeking confidential treatment of Form 

477 data prepare and submit a separate, 

redacted Form 477; (4) responding to 

comments submitted by the Office of 

Advocacy of the Small Business 

Administration, we will publish a Small 

Entity Compliance Guide to provide a 

set of user-friendly explanations to 

direct small entities to those sections of 

the Form 477 relevant to their 

operations. 

7. We reject calls for extending the 

Form 477 program for less than five 

years because our statutory 

responsibilities to study and report on 

broadband deployment and encourage 

the development of local telephone 

service competition are on-going. We 

find that a five-year extension is 

prudent given continuing and rapidlyevolving developments in broadband 

and local telephone services markets. 

Reviewing the adequacy of our form at 

regular intervals is essential to ensure 

that it is, in fact, capturing the most 

relevant and critical information given 

the dynamic nature of these markets. 

Accordingly, we affirm our analysis and 

conclusion in the Data Gathering Order, 

namely, that a five-year program best 

balances our continuing need to 

understand evolving market 

developments against our desire to 

minimize costs and ensure that adopted 

regulation does not outlive its 

usefulness. Moreover, we disagree with 

comments that the availability of 

alternative data sources is an adequate 

substitute for the Form 477. In our 

experience, most if not all commercially 

available studies of residential services 

adoption derive their data in significant 

part from the Commission’s Form 477-

based public reports. And, no 

nationwide studies of broadband 

deployment or of local telephone 

competition are based on better sources 

of data for rural and other hard-to-serve 

areas. Voluntary membership surveys 

conducted by commenters NTCA and 

OPASTCO, and also by the National 

Exchange Carrier Association (NECA), 

provide welcome evidence that the 

incumbent LECs that respond to the 

surveys are deploying broadband 

services to substantial—and 

increasing— percentages of their 

customer base. Entities that choose not 

to participate in these voluntary surveys 

may have a different experience. By 

contrast, surveys such as those about 

Internet use conducted by the Pew 

Internet & American Life Project, and 

the Census Bureau’s Current Population 

Survey, use random samples that are 

constructed to avoid overlooking 

particular population groups. To obtain 

statistically significant results for 

particular rural populations, however, a 

large (and therefore expensive) random 

sample is required. For example, 

because the random sample (of about 

57,000 households) for the Current 

Population Survey does not over-sample 

households located in rural areas in 

particular states, the Department of 

Commerce was able to discuss 

nationwide differences between rural 

and urban households in its report, A 

Nation Online: How Americans Are 

Expanding Their Use of the Internet

(February 2002), but was not able to 

discuss such differences within

particular states. Similarly, the Pew 

Internet & American Life Project has 

compared only nationwide differences 

in Internet use by residents of rural and 

urban areas on the basis of random 

samples of about 20,000 Americans age 

18 and older. 

8. Elimination of Reporting 

Thresholds. We also modify the Form 

477 program to require all facilitiesbased providers of broadband 

connections to end users to report 

broadband data, all local exchange 

carriers to report local telephone service 

data, and all mobile telephone carriers 

to report mobile telephone data. In 

reaching this conclusion, we note that 

comments from state agencies, and from 

some service providers, generally 

supported eliminating, or substantially 

reducing, the reporting thresholds. As 

we stated in the Data Collection NPRM, 

we believe that the current data 

collection misses several hundred small 

facilities-based broadband providers, 

e.g., rural incumbent LECs, wireless 

Internet service providers, and 

municipalities. Moreover, we agree with 

those commenters who argue that it is 

important to capture a more accurate 

picture of broadband deployment and 

local telephone competition in rural, 

sparsely populated areas, which are 

more likely to be served by small 

carriers.

9. In reaching our conclusion, we 

recognize that in the Data Gathering 

Order the Commission concluded that a 

reporting threshold for broadband and 

local competition appropriately 

balanced its need for an inclusive 

reporting requirement against the 

burdens imposed on small entities. At 

the same time, the Commission stated 

‘‘[we] are committed to revising these 

thresholds (either upward or 

downward) should it be necessary based 

either on our experience or on changes 

in the relevant markets.’’ And, the 

Commission pointed out that ‘‘[by] 

excluding any providers we necessarily 

face the possibility of understating the 

amount of competitive activity and 

broadband deployment in smaller, rural 

areas.’’ Based on our experience with 

the Form 477 over the past nearly five 

years, we now conclude that the current 

thresholds render impossible a thorough 

understanding of the dynamics of 

broadband deployment in states with 

rural and/or underserved areas. We find 

that lowering the existing thresholds to 

some other, more or less arbitrary, 

number means that certain of these 

areas will continue to elude our 

scrutiny. Such a result seems inimical to 

Congress’s charge, in section 706 of the 

Act, that we make determinations on the 

‘‘availability of advanced 

telecommunications capability to all 

Americans.’’ Thus, we believe that are 

better equipped to make sound policy 

determinations affecting the broadband 

market to the extent we have the most 

accurate and comprehensive data 

possible upon which to base our 

decisions. 

77914 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 249 / Wednesday, December 29, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 

10. Similarly, based on our extensive 

experience in collection local 

competition data, we now conclude that 

we must gather an appropriate amount 

of information about the status of local 

competition from all areas of the 

country. We believe that the current 

10,000 line reporting threshold 

significantly understates the amount of 

local competition in states that include 

rural and/or other underserved areas. As 

a result, our understanding of rural and 

underserved market development is not 

as precise as it could be. Having more 

accurate information about competition 

in rural markets will assist the 

Commission in its review of portability 

and eligibility policies. Merely lowering 

existing thresholds to some arbitrary 

number does not overcome this problem 

or mitigate its effects. 

11. Moreover, this problem 

predictably will only get worse as 

networks continue to evolve, i.e., as 

network architectures reflect the 

continued convergence of traditional 

telephony and broadband. Given such 

convergence, which was only at its 

initial stages when we adopted the Data 

Gathering Order almost five years ago, it 

becomes essential that our broadband 

and local competition data collection 

methodologies are equally 

comprehensive. We therefore conclude 

that we should collect local telephone 

service information on the same 

comprehensive basis upon which we 

collect information about broadband 

connections. 

12. We conclude that the benefits to 

the policy making process that derive 

from the additional data outweigh the 

reporting burdens on new Form 477 

filers (i.e., entities that would not be 

required to file Form 477 if we retained 

the current mandatory reporting 

thresholds). As we noted in the Data 

Collection NPRM, the small facilitiesbased broadband providers that 

currently file Form 477 on a voluntary 

basis find that only a few questions 

apply to their situations. Moreover, 

among the smaller entities that are 

currently required to report broadband 

data on Form 477 (i.e., entities that 

report between 250 and 499 broadband 

connections in a state), 68 percent 

reported connections in only one 

technology category, and 98 percent 

reported connections in two or fewer 

technology categories. Accordingly, we 

conclude that the broadband reporting 

requirements we adopt here are not 

overly burdensome for small providers. 

Similarly, among the smaller incumbent 

LECs that are currently required to 

report wireline local telephone data 

(i.e., carriers that report between 10,000 

and 24,999 voice-grade equivalent local 

exchange lines), 95 percent report only 

one of the five rows of information that 

will appear in the modified form. 

Therefore, we conclude that the local 

telephone reporting requirements we 

adopt here are not overly burdensome 

for small carriers. We also note that, for 

many new incumbent LEC filers, some 

answers (e.g., percent of local exchange 

lines provided over the filer’s own local 

loops) are unlikely to change from filing 

to filing, and that, more generally, filers 

will be able to complete their filings 

more efficiently as they gain experience 

with the data collection. We conclude 

that it is not possible to develop an 

adequately comprehensive picture of 

broadband deployment and local 

telephone competition in the United 

States without including information 

about the situation in rural, sparsely 

populated areas. As NECA emphasizes, 

the more than 1,100 rural carriers that 

belong to NECA’s Traffic Sensitive pool 

generally serve sparse populations over 

wide geographical areas—frequently 

fewer than 10 customers per square 

mile. Therefore, we conclude that the 

benefits to policy making of developing 

a more accurate picture of broadband 

deployment and local telephone 

competition—including in rural, 

sparsely populated areas—outweigh the 

costs of reporting that we impose on 

carriers that have previously been 

exempt from filing Form 477. 

13. We recognize, however, the 

particular concerns about reporting 

burden that have been raised by smaller 

incumbent LECs, and we consequently 

decide not to pursue at this time certain 

options about which we requested 

comment in the Data Collection NPRM. 

In particular, we decide not to require 

filers to determine what information 

transfer rate an end user actually 

observes on his or her broadband 

connection, and, as discussed below, we 

also decide to eliminate from the form 

several questions about local telephone 

service. 

14. Broadband Data. Based on our 

review of the record in this proceeding 

and on our experience with the Form 

477, we adopt a number of 

modifications to the broadband data 

collected by the Form 477. We conclude 

that these modifications are necessary to 

ensure that we have a full picture of 

developing broadband deployment 

trends nationwide. First, we modify the 

Form 477 to require filers to determine 

what percentage of their broadband or 

high-speed connections are faster than 

200 kbps in both directions, and to 

categorize these connections into five 

‘‘speed tiers’’ based on the information 

transfer rate in the connection’s faster 

direction: (1) Greater than 200 kbps and 

less than 2.5 megabits per second 

(mbps); (2) greater than or equal to 2.5 

mbps and less than 10 mbps; (3) greater 

than or equal to 10 mbps and less than 

25 mbps; (4) greater than or equal to 25 

mbps and less than 100 mbps; and (5) 

greater than or equal to 100 mbps. Some 

comments in this proceeding assert that 

collecting information about 

connections with very high speeds (e.g., 

above 10 mbps) would be irrelevant 

(e.g., because connections operating at 

such speeds are now not generally 

available to consumers in the United 

States). As we noted in the Fourth 706 

Report, however, we have observed 

some service providers offering faster 

and faster connections, perhaps because 

they are able to do so at relatively little 

cost, and thereby differentiate their 

products from competitors’ slower 

services. As these faster services are 

introduced, it is vitally important that 

we understand the evolving dynamics of 

higher speed broadband availability in 

order to fulfill our statutory 

responsibilities to report about whether 

broadband capability is available to all 

Americans.

15. We also modify Form 477 to 

require filers to report symmetric xDSL 

broadband connections separately from 

traditional wireline (such as T-carrier) 

connections, and to separately report 

broadband connections delivered over 

electric power lines. Thus, we require 

filers to report broadband connections 

in the following technology categories: 

asymmetric xDSL, symmetric xDSL, 

traditional wireline (such as T-carrier), 

cable modem, optical carrier (fiber to 

the end user), satellite, terrestrial fixed 

wireless, terrestrial mobile wireless, 

electric power line, or ‘‘all other.’’ In 

contrast to asymmetric xDSL, symmetric 

xDSL is well-suited to applications, 

such as videoconferencing, that require 

high-speed capacity in the upstream 

path as well as the downstream path. 

When Form 477 was implemented, it 

was the Commission’s understanding 

that symmetric xDSL service was being 

deployed and marketed principally to 

businesses, as a substitute for the more 

traditional T-carrier services, and the 

Commission therefore specified that 

symmetric xDSL connections should be 

reported along with connections over 

‘‘other traditional wireline’’

technologies. We now observe that some 

symmetric xDSL services are being 

offered to residential end users. For 

example, while we note that 

information about a broad range of 

symmetric high-speed xDSL services 

appears in marketing materials, such as 

Web pages, that are directed to business 

customers, we also observe that some 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 249 / Wednesday, December 29, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 77915

relatively low priced symmetric xDSL 

connections are being advertised on 

Web pages identified specifically for 

residential customers. We therefore 

disagree with comments that it is 

unnecessary or meaningless to 

distinguish symmetric xDSL services 

from traditional wireline services in the 

data collection. We also decide to 

establish electric power line as a 

separate broadband technology category 

to enable us to monitor its deployment 

specifically. 

16. Additionally, we modify Form 477 

to require incumbent LECs that report 

DSL connections (or whose affiliates 

report DSL connections) to report the 

extent to which DSL connections are 

available to the residential end user 

premises to which the incumbent LEC 

offers local telephone service. Similarly, 

we modify Form 477 to require cable 

system operators that report cable 

modem connections (or whose affiliates 

report cable modem connections) to 

report the extent to which cable modem 

connections are available to the 

residential end user premises to which 

the cable system offers cable television 

service. We adopt these requirements in 

order to obtain state-level ‘‘availability’’

estimates from the major providers of 

the broadband services with the greatest 

residential acceptance in the United 

States to date, to better enable us to 

monitor the extent to which these 

broadband platforms are available to all 

Americans, and to ascertain with more 

precision the pattern of competition 

between these platforms. 

17. In response to commenter 

concerns, we modify the availability 

metric that we proposed in the Data 

Collection NPRM to conform more 

closely with the system-wide metrics 

with which cable system operators are 

generally familiar. By relying as much 

as possible on such industry practices, 

we believe that we can collect, in a 

minimally burdensome manner, moredetailed information about the extent to 

which the widely deployed and widely 

utilized cable modem and DSL 

infrastructures are available to potential 

residential end users in a minimally 

burdensome manner. We note that 

residential broadband connections in 

service in the United States are 

primarily cable modem or DSL 

connections. Because of the relatively 

small numbers of residential subscribers 

to broadband services that are provided 

by means of satellite, fixed wireless, 

mobile wireless, optical carrier, and 

other technologies, at this time, we do 

not require providers of those services 

to report availability estimates. We may, 

however, propose to do so in the future 

if circumstances warrant. 

18. We also modify Form 477 to 

require all filers that report information 

about wired or fixed wireless broadband 

connections to end user locations to 

report technology-specific lists of the 

Zip Codes in which at least one such 

connection is in service. Specifically, we 

require separate such lists for 

connections provided by mean of 

asymmetric xDSL, symmetric xDSL, 

cable modem, optical carrier (fiber to 

the end user), satellite, terrestrial fixed 

wireless, electric power line, and (as a 

single category) other wireline 

technologies. With respect to mobile 

wireless broadband services, which are 

now beginning to be deployed 

commercially, we note that the end user 

of such a service must be within a 

broadband service coverage area to 

make use of the service, but may move 

around within and among coverage 

areas. Particularly during the initial 

stages of commercial deployment, 

moreover, there may be a mismatch 

between the billing addresses of some 

early-adopter subscribers, such as 

persons who travel frequently on 

business, and the physical locations 

where the subscriber can actually use 

the service. Because of the particular 

characteristics of mobile services, some 

have argued that CMRS providers 

should be completely exempt from 

reporting broadband data on Form 477. 

We disagree. Rather, we acknowledge 

that mobile broadband services differ in 

particular respects from fixed 

broadband services and make provision 

for such differences in this data 

collection. In particular, we specify that 

mobile wireless service providers will 

report the number of subscribers to their 

mobile wireless broadband services. 

And, we require, at this time, that filers 

reporting mobile wireless broadband 

subscribers on Form 477 also provide a 

list of Zip Codes that best represent the 

filer’s mobile wireless broadband 

coverage areas. We observe mobile 

wireless broadband service providers 

using Zip Code-based information in 

their own marketing initiatives, and we 

conclude that providing such 

information on Form 477 will not be 

overly burdensome.

19. Finally, we note that various 

commenters argued that the 

Commission did not adequately identify 

and justify the need for the broadband 

(and local competition) reporting 

modifications proposed in the Data 

Collection NPRM. We disagree. In the 

Data Collection NPRM, we carefully 

noted justifications for gathering 

information about broadband 

deployment and local telephone 

competition in the Form 477. We also 

stated that additional information 

‘‘would be extremely useful’’ in 

identifying and tracking relevant 

developments, particularly in rural 

areas. Moreover, in the context of 

broadband deployment, we specifically 

noted ‘‘the emergence of competing 

platforms to deliver high-speed services, 

increasing data speeds of services 

offered, and a steady improvement in 

mass-market acceptance of services.’’

Our discussion of changes to the current 

Form 477 was clearly tied to these 

observations, as well as to the 

Commission’s experience with the Form 

477. We have carefully reviewed the 

record developed in response to these 

proposals, and find that it supports 

extending the Form 477 program with 

the modifications adopted in this Order. 

We also draw attention to the 

Commission’s statements in its most 

recent Report to Congress, pursuant to 

section 706 of the 1996 Act, regarding 

the availability of broadband services in 

the United States. In that Report, the 

Commission affirmed the need to track 

broadband deployment in sparsely 

served, rural areas, as well as the need 

to better track the developing consumer 

appetite for broadband services at 

speeds well in excess of the 

Commission’s current minimum 200 

kbps speed. We find that all of the Form 

477 modifications proposed in the Data 

Collection NPRM and adopted here 

derive from these two basic concerns, as 

well as from regulatory mandates 

imposed by section 706 of the 

Telecommunications Act of 1996 and, 

more generally, by the Communications 

Act. 

20. Local Telephone Data. Based on 

our review of the record in this 

proceeding and our experience with the 

Form 477, we adopt far fewer 

modifications to the local telephone 

data reported on the form. In fact, we 

adopt only two. First, we modify Form 

477 to require LECs to report the extent 

to which they are also the end user’s 

default interstate long distance carrier. 

We disagree with those commenters that 

argued such information is not relevant 

for monitoring local telephone service 

competition. As we noted in the Data 

Collection NPRM, consumers 

increasingly can choose among 

telephone service offerings that permit 

both local and long distance calling, 

often for a single price. Indeed, it 

appears to us that offering combinations 

of services at attractive prices appears to 

be an important, rapidly evolving way 

for providers to compete by providing 

potential end users more, and higher 

value, choices. It is important for us to 

more precisely understand how such 

77916 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 249 / Wednesday, December 29, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 

bundling affects the overall 

development of local telephone service 

competition. 

21. Second, we modify Form 477 to 

require LECs to report their use of UNE 

loops to serve their own end-user 

customers separately from their use of 

UNE-Platform to do so. Because the 

current form does not require this 

distinction to be made, we are not able 

at this time to compare data and thereby 

evaluate, for accuracy and 

completeness, the information reported 

to us about the numbers of UNE loops 

and UNE-Platform provided to

unaffiliated carriers. Therefore, we 

modify the form to require LECs to 

report the extent to which they 

provision voice-grade equivalent lines 

to their own local telephone service 

customers over their own local loop 

facilities (or the fixed wireless last-mile 

equivalent), over UNE loops obtained 

from an unaffiliated carrier without 

switching, over UNE-Platform, or by 

reselling another carrier’s services (such 

as Centrex or special access) or facilities 

obtained under commercial 

arrangements. 

22. Finally, to simplify the form and 

thus minimize reporting burdens where 

possible, we eliminate from the Form 

477 several questions about local 

telephone service that, in our 

experience, have confused filers or 

otherwise have provided information of 

limited usefulness. Specifically, we 

eliminate current requirements that 

force LECs to: (1) Estimate the types of 

customers unaffiliated carriers serve by 

means of the lines and UNE 

arrangements the LEC provides; (2) 

report the extent to which they use local 

loop facilities they own and UNE loops 

they obtain from another carrier to 

provision the services the LEC provides 

to unaffiliated carriers for resale; and (3) 

report information related to 

‘‘collocation’’ arrangements with 

unaffiliated carriers. 

23. We also eliminate the current 

requirement that LECs report on the 

Form 477 information about special 

access circuits that they provide to 

unaffiliated carriers or to end users. 

(Filers’ use of channelized special 

access circuits to provide local exchange 

service to their own end user customers 

will continue to be reflected in the Form 

477 data, however.) The current Form 

477 collects information about the 

number of special access circuits 

provided to unaffiliated carriers or end 

users irrespective of the capacity of 

those circuits (e.g., DS1, DS3, OCn), 

which seriously limits the usefulness of 

these data in evaluating the extent of 

competition. We may, however, 

consider collecting more precise 

information about special access 

services in the future if circumstances 

warrant. Finally, we decide not to adopt 

the proposal in the Data Collection 

NPRM to require mobile telephone 

carriers to report the extent to which 

they are the default interstate long 

distance carrier for the mobile telephone 

subscribers they report.

24. Other Issues. We will retain our 

current policies and procedures 

regarding the confidential treatment of 

submitted Form 477 data, including the 

exclusive use of aggregated data in our 

published reports. Moreover, we have 

decided not to adopt a different 

approach with regard to historical data. 

Almost all commenters supported our 

current data protection policies, and 

most argued that even historical data 

remains competitively sensitive. We 

believe our current policies and 

procedures afford more than adequate 

protection to any entity submitting 

competitively sensitive information in 

the Form 477. We will continue, 

however, our current practice of 

publishing most of the local telephone 

information reported by the Bell 

operating companies after consultation 

with the individual companies. 

25. Because filers submitting Form 

477 data routinely assert that some or all 

such data are competitively sensitive, 

we see no need to continue to require 

them to provide a separate, redacted 

file. Accordingly, we eliminate that 

requirement. We expect that this action 

by itself will substantially reduce the 

reporting burden imposed on a large 

number of individual filers. 

26. We also decide to retain our 

current policies and procedures 

regarding the sharing of Form 477 data 

with state commissions. Such data 

sharing only occurs where state entities 

formally declare to us that they are 

willing and able to treat submitted 

information subject to restrictions on 

data release that are at least as stringent 

as federal requirements. Commenters 

generally do not oppose continuing 

data-sharing arrangements on these 

terms. 

27. Upon careful consideration of the 

record in this proceeding, we decline to 

adopt certain modifications proposed or 

discussed in the Data Collection NPRM. 

We decide not to modify Form 477 to 

require filers to categorize broadband 

connections according to information 

transfer rate (speed) that is actually 

observed by the end user of the 

broadband connection. The record of 

this proceeding does not identify a 

methodology or practice that currently 

could be applied, consistently and by all 

types of broadband filers, to measure the 

information transfer rates actually 

observed by end users. Moreover, we 

expect broadband service providers to 

be mindful of general consumer 

protection law and to advertise their 

services with sufficient accuracy to 

enable end users to select the offering—

as distinguished by ‘‘speed tier’’ and 

other features—that best fits the end 

user’s needs and budget. 

28. We also decide not to require 

filers to report the number of broadband 

connections, by technology, in 

particular Zip Codes, or to report, for 

each Zip Code, any information about 

the number of connections provided in 

various ‘‘speed tiers.’’ Rather, by 

requiring filers to report technologyspecific lists of broadband Zip Codes in 

the modified Form 477—and removing 

the reporting threshold to require all 

facilities-based broadband providers to 

report—we believe we will substantially 

enhance our ability to monitor the 

deployment of established and emerging 

broadband platforms. Moreover, the 

comments of several broadband 

providers asserted that developing the 

software and systems necessary to 

generate such Zip Code-level data 

would impose a large burden on the 

filer’s financial and personnel resources, 

or would require a number of months to 

implement. Accordingly, we decline to 

require broadband providers to report 

this level of detail at this time. We 

continue to recognize, however, that the 

presence of reported subscribers in a 

Zip Code does not necessarily mean 

service is available throughout the Zip 

Code, and we may revisit our decisions 

about reporting detailed Zip Code-level 

data in the future. To this end, we direct 

the Wireline Competition Bureau to 

assess more fully the extent to which 

our Zip Code data adequately reflect the 

availability of service throughout a Zip 

Code and to report its conclusions in the 

next section 706 report. 

29. Similarly, we also decide not to 

adopt at this time any additional 

requirements that were not specifically 

proposed in the Data Collection NPRM. 

For example, we decide not to require 

broadband providers to report 

information about the prices at which 

they offer broadband services to end 

users in particular Zip Codes, to require 

mobile telephone carriers to estimate 

the percentage of wireless subscribers 

that use their service as a replacement 

for traditional landline service, or to 

require entities to report data according 

to city boundaries. We are not 

convinced at this time that potential 

benefits derived from collecting these 

additional data outweigh their 

associated costs. 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 249 / Wednesday, December 29, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 77917

Procedural Matters 

Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

1. As required by the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act of 1980, as amended 

(RFA), an Initial Regulatory Flexibility 

Analysis (IRFA) was incorporated in the 

Data Collection NPRM (Notice). The 

Commission sought written public 

comment on the proposals in the Notice, 

including comment on the IRFA. The 

comments received are discussed below. 

This present Final Regulatory Flexibility 

Analysis (FRFA) conforms to the RFA.

I. Need for, and Objectives of, the 

Report and Order 

2. The Commission initiated this 

rulemaking and made specific proposals 

to improve its Form 477 local 

competition and broadband datagathering program and to extend the 

program for five years beyond its 

currently designated sunset in March 

2005. The Commission adopted the 

Form 477 in the Spring of 2000 to help 

the Commission and the public 

understand the extent of local telephone 

service competition and broadband 

services deployment, which is 

important to the nation’s economic, 

educational, and social well-being. The 

decisions reached in this Order will 

further that goal while minimizing 

burdens on marketplace competitors 

and innovators, as well as small 

businesses. 

II. Summary of Significant Issues 

Raised by Public Comments in 

Response to the IRFA 

3. In the IRFA, we stated that we 

would seek to minimize the burden 

imposed on smaller entities by 

establishing requirements for reporting 

that balanced the needs of the 

Commission to receive data on the 

development of local competition and 

deployment of broadband against the 

burden such reporting places on smaller 

entities. In response to the Notice, the 

Commission received comments from 

14 parties and reply comments from 7 

parties. In addition, the Office of 

Advocacy, U.S. Small Business 

Administration (SBA), Verizon and the 

Vermont Public Service Department 

(VPSD) made ex parte presentations. 

Among those parties, only the SBA, the 

National Cable Television Association 

(NCTA), the National 

Telecommunications Cooperative 

Association (NTCA), and the 

Organization for the Promotion and 

Advancement of Small 

Telecommunications Companies 

(OPASTCO) commented specifically on 

the IRFA. We note that many other 

commenters raised issues about the 

proposed rules and we encourage 

readers of this FRFA to consult the 

complete text of this Order, which 

describes in detail our analysis of 

commenter proposals. 

4. In its ex parte presentation 

regarding the IRFA, the VPSD made 

recommendations to simplify the 

expanded Form 477 proposed in the 

Notice. In its ex parte presentation, SBA 

recommends that the Commission 

consider less burdensome alternatives 

for small carriers, such as simplifying 

the proposed Form 477 or establishing 

a ‘‘short form or Form 477–EZ’’ for 

small carriers previously exempt from 

reporting. OPASTCO stated that the 

Commission’s estimated time to 

complete the proposed Form 477 of 15 

hours is understated, and that the real 

number is 23 to 28 hours. NTCA agreed 

with OPASTCO and urged the 

Commission to develop a new Form 477 

that will reduce the amount of 

information required from small carriers 

and take 30 minutes or less to complete. 

NTCA further stated that the lowering or 

removing of the current threshold 

exemption would result in an 

unwarranted burden on small carriers. 

NCTA further recommended that the 

Commission establish a new threshold 

of ‘‘not lower than 100 broadband lines 

per state’’ to reduce that burden, while 

at the same time achieving the 

Commission’s objectives. 

5. In an effort to balance the needs of 

the Commission with the costs our data 

gathering may place on smaller entities, 

the Commission has taken the 

suggestions of OPASTCO, NTCA and 

the SBA and simplified the Form 477 

proposed in the Notice. By doing so, we 

will lessen the burden on all entities 

required to submit reports. We believe 

that these modifications satisfy SBA’s 

request that we significantly reduce the 

burdens for those small entities that 

must comply. Moreover, we conclude 

that these modifications will allow the 

Commission to comply with Congress’

charge in section 706 of the 1996 Act to 

determine whether advanced 

telecommunications capability, 

commonly known as ‘‘broadband,’’ is 

being deployed to all Americans. In 

order to gain the comprehensive 

understanding—as called for in section 

706—of the broadband market, 

particularly in rural and inner-city areas 

and among demographic groups that are 

traditionally underserved, it is 

necessary to gather data from entities 

that are most likely to serve these areas 

and groups, which includes some 

smaller entities. 

6. Among the other actions taken to 

reduce the overall burden on small 

entities, we retain the ‘‘decoupled’’

feature where the broadband and local 

competition reporting requirements are 

separate on the Form 477. Thus, we 

reduce reporting burdens on 

traditionally smaller providers by only 

requiring data that covers services they 

actually offer. 

7. To further reduce the potential 

burden this data gathering program may 

place on smaller entities, we retain 

several of the time-saving and burdenreducing features of the original Form 

477. Specifically, the report frequency 

remains semiannual. We still require 

carriers to report information about 

broadband connections and local 

telephone services on a state-by-state 

basis. To supplement this information, 

we ask providers of broadband 

connections and local exchange services 

to provide lists of the Zip Codes in 

which they serve at least one customer. 

Finally, we reaffirm that this reporting 

scheme continues to offer the best 

balance of our need to achieve 

geographically disaggregated 

information while minimizing burdens 

on all entities, including small entities. 

8. Overall, we believe that our 

approach (e.g., simplifying the form and 

retaining the burden-reducing features 

of the original Form 477) will result in 

a program that is not overly burdensome 

on reporting entities, and thus balances 

the concerns raised by SBA and other 

commenters with the Commission’s 

need to gain a better understanding of 

developments in these markets. 

III. Description and Estimate of the 

Number of Small Entities To Which 

Rules Will Apply 

9. The RFA directs agencies to 

provide a description of, and, where 

feasible, an estimate of, the number of 

small entities that may be affected by 

the rules adopted herein. The RFA 

generally defines the term ‘‘small 

entity’’ as having the same meaning as 

the terms ‘‘small business,’’ ‘‘small 

organization,’’ and ‘‘small governmental 

jurisdiction.’’ In addition, the term 

‘‘small business’’ has the same meaning 

as the term ‘‘small business concern’’

under the Small Business Act. A ‘‘small 

business concern’’ is one which: (1) Is 

independently owned and operated; (2) 

is not dominant in its field of operation; 

and (3) satisfies any additional criteria 

established by the Small Business 

Administration (SBA). 

10. The most reliable source of 

information regarding the total numbers 

of certain common carrier and related 

providers nationwide, as well as the 

number of commercial wireless entities, 

is the data that the Commission 

publishes in its Trends in Telephone 

Service report. The SBA has developed 

77918 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 249 / Wednesday, December 29, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 

small business size standards for 

wireline and wireless small businesses 

within the three commercial census 

categories of Wired 

Telecommunications Carriers, Paging, 

and Cellular and Other Wireless 

Telecommunications. Under these 

categories, a business is small if it has 

1,500 or fewer employees. Below, using 

the above size standards and others, we 

discuss the total estimated numbers of 

small businesses that might be affected 

by our actions.

11. We have included small 

incumbent local exchange carriers 

(LECs) in this present RFA analysis. As 

noted above, a ‘‘small business’’ under 

the RFA is one that, inter alia, meets the 

pertinent small business size standard 

(e.g., a telephone communications 

business having 1,500 or fewer 

employees), and ‘‘is not dominant in its 

field of operation.’’ The SBA’s Office of 

Advocacy contends that, for RFA 

purposes, small incumbent LECs are not 

dominant in their field of operation 

because any such dominance is not 

‘‘national’’ in scope. We have therefore 

included small incumbent LECs in this 

RFA analysis, although we emphasize 

that this RFA action has no effect on 

Commission analyses and 

determinations in other, non-RFA 

contexts. 

12. Wired Telecommunications 

Carriers. The SBA has developed a 

small business size standard for Wired 

Telecommunications Carriers, which 

consists of all such companies having 

1,500 or fewer employees. According to 

Census Bureau data for 1997, there were 

2,225 firms in this category, total, that 

operated for the entire year. Of this 

total, 2,201 firms had employment of 

999 or fewer employees, and an 

additional 24 firms had employment of 

1,000 employees or more. Thus, under 

this size standard, the great majority of 

firms can be considered small. 

13. Incumbent Local Exchange 

Carriers (ILECs). Neither the 

Commission nor the SBA has developed 

a size standard for small businesses 

specifically applicable to incumbent 

local exchange services. The closest 

applicable size standard under SBA 

rules is for Wired Telecommunications 

Carriers. Under that size standard, such 

a business is small if it has 1,500 or 

fewer employees. According to 

Commission data, 1,310 carriers 

reported that they were engaged in the 

provision of local exchange services. Of 

these 1,310 carriers, an estimated 1,025 

have 1,500 or fewer employees and 285 

have more than 1,500 employees. 

Consequently, the Commission 

estimates that most providers of 

incumbent local exchange service are 

small businesses that may be affected by 

the rules and policies adopted herein. 

14. Competitive Local Exchange 

Carriers (CLECs). Neither the 

Commission nor the SBA has developed 

a size standard for small businesses 

specifically applicable to providers of 

competitive exchange services or to 

competitive access providers or to 

‘‘Other Local Exchange Carriers,’’ all of 

which are discrete categories under 

which TRS data are collected. The 

closest applicable size standard under 

SBA rules is for Wired 

Telecommunications Carriers. Under 

that size standard, such a business is 

small if it has 1,500 or fewer employees. 

According to Commission data, 563 

companies reported that they were 

engaged in the provision of either 

competitive access provider services or 

competitive local exchange carrier 

services. Of these 563 companies, an 

estimated 472 have 1,500 or fewer 

employees and 91 have more than 1,500 

employees. In addition, 37 carriers 

reported that they were ‘‘Other Local 

Exchange Carriers.’’ Of the 37 ‘‘Other 

Local Exchange Carriers,’’ an estimated 

36 have 1,500 or fewer employees and 

one has more than 1,500 employees. 

Consequently, the Commission 

estimates that most providers of 

competitive local exchange service, 

competitive access providers, and 

‘‘Other Local Exchange Carriers’’ are 

small entities that may be affected by 

the rules and policies adopted herein. 

15. Interexchange Carriers (IXCs).

Neither the Commission nor the SBA 

has developed a size standard for small 

businesses specifically applicable to 

interexchange services. The closest 

applicable size standard under SBA 

rules is for Wired Telecommunications 

Carriers. Under that size standard, such 

a business is small if it has 1,500 or 

fewer employees. According to 

Commission data, 281 companies 

reported that their primary 

telecommunications service activity was 

the provision of interexchange services. 

Of these 281 companies, an estimated 

254 have 1,500 or fewer employees and 

27 have more than 1,500 employees. 

Consequently, the Commission 

estimates that the majority of 

interexchange service providers are 

small entities that may be affected by 

the rules and policies adopted herein. 

16. Cellular Licensees. The SBA has 

developed a small business size 

standard for Cellular and Other Wireless 

Telecommunication, which consists of 

all such firms having 1,500 or fewer 

employees. According to Census bureau 

data for 1997, there were 977 firms in 

this category, total, that operated for the 

entire year. Of this total, 965 firms had 

employment of 999 or fewer employees, 

and an additional 12 firms had 

employment of 1,000 employees or 

more. Thus, under this size standard, 

the majority of firms can be considered 

small. 

17. Broadband Personal 

Communications Service. The 

broadband Personal Communications 

Service (PCS) spectrum is divided into 

six frequency blocks designated A 

through F, and the Commission has held 

auctions for each block. The 

Commission defined ‘‘small entity’’ for 

Blocks C and F as an entity that has 

average gross revenues of $40 million or 

less in the three previous calendar 

years. For Block F, an additional 

classification for ‘‘very small business’’

was added and is defined as an entity 

that, together with its affiliates, has 

average gross revenues of not more than 

$15 million for the preceding three 

calendar years.’’ These standards 

defining ‘‘small entity’’ in the context of 

broadband PCS auctions have been 

approved by the SBA. No small 

businesses, within the SBA-approved 

small business size standards bid 

successfully for licenses in Blocks A 

and B. There were 90 winning bidders 

that qualified as small entities in the 

Block C auctions. A total of 93 small 

and very small business bidders won 

approximately 40 percent of the 1,479 

licenses for Blocks D, E, and F. On 

March 23, 1999, the Commission reauctioned 347 C, D, E, and F Block 

licenses. There were 48 small business 

winning bidders. On January 26, 2001, 

the Commission completed the auction 

of 422 C and F Broadband PCS licenses 

in Auction No. 35. Of the 35 winning 

bidders in this auction, 29 qualified as 

‘‘small’’ or ‘‘very small’’ businesses. 

Based on this information, the 

Commission concludes that the number 

of small broadband PCS licenses will 

include the 90 winning C Block bidders, 

the 93 qualifying bidders in the D, E, 

and F Block auctions, the 48 winning 

bidders in the 1999 re-auction, and the 

29 winning bidders in the 2001 reauction, for a total of 260 small entity 

broadband PCS providers, as defined by 

the SBA small business size standards 

and the Commission’s auction rules. 

Consequently, the Commission 

estimates that 260 broadband PCS 

providers are small entities that may be 

affected by the rules and policies 

adopted herein.

18. Narrowband Personal 

Communications Services. To date, two 

auctions of narrowband personal 

communications services (PCS) licenses 

have been conducted. For purposes of 

the two auctions that have already been 

held, ‘‘small businesses’’ were entities 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 249 / Wednesday, December 29, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 77919

with average gross revenues for the prior 

three calendar years of $40 million or 

less. Through these auctions, the 

Commission has awarded a total of 41 

licenses, out of which 11 were obtained 

by small businesses. To ensure 

meaningful participation of small 

business entities in future auctions, the 

Commission has adopted a two-tiered 

small business size standard in the 

Narrowband PCS Second Report and 

Order. A ‘‘small business’’ is an entity 

that, together with affiliates and 

controlling interests, has average gross 

revenues for the three preceding years of 

not more than $40 million. A ‘‘very 

small business’’ is an entity that, 

together with affiliates and controlling 

interests, has average gross revenues for 

the three preceding years of not more 

than $15 million. The SBA has 

approved these small business size 

standards. In the future, the 

Commission will auction 459 licenses to 

serve Metropolitan Trading Areas 

(MTAs) and 408 response channel 

licenses. There is also one megahertz of 

narrowband PCS spectrum that has been 

held in reserve and that the Commission 

has not yet decided to release for 

licensing. The Commission cannot 

predict accurately the number of 

licenses that will be awarded to small 

entities in future actions. However, four 

of the 16 winning bidders in the two 

previous narrowband PCS auctions were 

small businesses, as that term was 

defined under the Commission’s rules. 

The Commission assumes, for purposes 

of this analysis, that a large portion of 

the remaining narrowband PCS licenses 

will be awarded to small entities. The 

Commission also assumes that at least 

some small businesses will acquire 

narrowband PCS licenses by means of 

the Commission’s partitioning and 

disaggregation rules. 

19. 220 MHz Radio Service—Phase I 

Licensees. The 220 MHz service has 

both Phase I and Phase II licenses. Phase 

I licensing was conducted by lotteries in 

1992 and 1993. There are approximately 

1,515 such non-nationwide licensees 

and four nationwide licensees currently 

authorized to operate in the 220 MHz 

band. The Commission has not 

developed a small business size 

standard for small entities specifically 

applicable to such incumbent 220 MHz 

Phase I licensees. To estimate the 

number of such licensees that are small 

businesses, we apply the small business 

size standard under the SBA rules 

applicable to ‘‘Cellular and Other 

Wireless Telecommunications’’

companies. This standard provides that 

such a company is small if it employs 

no more than 1,500 persons. According 

to Census Bureau data for 1997, there 

were 977 firms in this category, total, 

that operated for the entire year. Of this 

total, 965 firms had employment of 999 

or fewer employees, and an additional 

12 firms had employment of 1,000 

employees or more. If this general ratio 

continues in the context of Phase I 220 

MHz licensees, the Commission 

estimates that nearly all such licensees 

are small businesses under the SBA’s 

small business size standard. 

20. 220 MHz Radio Service—Phase II 

Licensees. The 220 MHz service has 

both Phase I and Phase II licenses. The 

Phase II 220 MHz service is a new 

service, and is subject to spectrum 

auctions. In the 220 MHz Third Report 

and Order, we adopted a small business 

size standard for ‘‘small’’ and ‘‘very 

small’’ businesses for purposes of 

determining their eligibility for special 

provisions such as bidding credits and 

installment payments. This small 

business size standard indicates that a 

‘‘small business’’ is an entity that, 

together with its affiliates and 

controlling principals, has average gross 

revenues not exceeding $15 million for 

the preceding three years. A ‘‘very small 

business’’ is an entity that, together with 

its affiliates and controlling principals, 

has average gross revenues that do not 

exceed $3 million for the preceding 

three years. The SBA has approved 

these small business size standards. 

Auctions of Phase II licenses 

commenced on September 15, 1998, and 

closed on October 22, 1998. In the first 

auction, 908 licenses were auctioned in 

three different-sized geographic areas: 

three nationwide licenses, 30 Regional 

Economic Area Group (EAG) Licenses, 

and 875 Economic Area (EA) Licenses. 

Of the 908 licenses auctioned, 693 were 

sold. Thirty-nine small businesses won 

licenses in the first 220 MHz auction. 

The second auction included 225 

licenses: 216 EA licenses and 9 EAG 

licenses. Fourteen companies claiming 

small business status won 158 licenses.

21. Fixed Microwave Services. Fixed 

microwave services include common 

carrier, private operational-fixed, and 

broadcast auxiliary radio services. At 

present, there are approximately 22,015 

common carrier fixed licensees and 

61,670 private operational-fixed 

licensees and broadcast auxiliary radio 

licensees in the microwave services. 

The Commission has not created a size 

standard for a small business 

specifically with respect to fixed 

microwave services. For purposes of 

this analysis, the Commission uses the 

SBA small business size standard for the 

category ‘‘Cellular and Other 

Telecommunications,’’ which is 1,500 

or fewer employees. The Commission 

does not have data specifying the 

number of these licensees that have 

more than 1,500 employees, and thus 

are unable at this time to estimate with 

greater precision the number of fixed 

microwave service licensees that would 

qualify as small business concerns 

under the SBA’s small business size 

standard. Consequently, the 

Commission estimates that there are up 

to 22,015 common carrier fixed 

licensees and up to 61,670 private 

operational-fixed licensees and 

broadcast auxiliary radio licensees in 

the microwave services that may be 

small and may be affected by the rules 

and policies adopted herein. We noted, 

however, that the common carrier 

microwave fixed licensee category 

includes some large entities. 

22. Offshore Radiotelephone Service.

This service operates on several UHF 

television broadcast channels that are 

not used for television broadcasting in 

the coastal areas of states bordering the 

Gulf of Mexico. There are presently 

approximately 55 licensees in this 

service. We are unable to estimate at 

this time the number of licensees that 

would qualify as small under the SBA’s 

small business size standard for 

‘‘Cellular and Other Wireless 

Telecommunications’’ services. Under 

that SBA small business size standard, 

a business is small if it has 1,500 or 

fewer employees. 

23. Wireless Communications 

Services. This service can be used for 

fixed, mobile, radiolocation, and digital 

audio broadcasting satellite uses. The 

Commission established small business 

size standards for the wireless 

communications services (WCS) 

auction. A ‘‘small business’’ is an entity 

with average gross revenues of $40 

million for each of the three preceding 

years, and a ‘‘very small business’’ is an 

entity with average gross revenues of 

$15 million for each of the three 

preceding years. The SBA has approved 

these small business size standards. The 

Commission auctioned geographic area 

licenses in the WCS service. In the 

auction, there were seven winning 

bidders that qualified as ‘‘very small 

business’’ entities, and one that 

qualified as a ‘‘small business’’ entity. 

We conclude that the number of 

geographic area WCS licensees affected 

by this analysis includes these eight 

entities. 

24. Satellite Services. The SBA has 

developed a small business size 

standard for Satellite 

Telecommunications, which consists of 

all such firms having $12.5 million or 

less in annual receipts. According to 

Census Bureau data for 1997, in this 

category there was a total of 324 firms 

77920 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 249 / Wednesday, December 29, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 

that operated for the entire year. Of this 

total, 273 firms had annual receipts of 

under $10 million, and an additional 

twenty-four firms had receipts of $10 

million to $24,999,999. Thus, under this 

size standard, the majority of firms can 

be considered small. 

25. In addition to the estimates 

provided above, we consider certain 

additional entities that may be affected 

by the data collection from broadband 

service providers. Because section 706 

requires us to monitor the deployment 

of broadband regardless of technology or 

transmission media employed, we 

anticipate that some broadband service 

providers will not provide telephone 

service. Accordingly, we describe below 

other types of firms that may provide 

broadband services, including cable 

companies, MDS providers, and 

utilities, among others. 

26. Cable Television Relay Service.

This service includes transmitters 

generally used to relay cable 

programming within cable television 

system distribution systems. The SBA 

has defined a small business size 

standard for Cable and other Program 

Distribution, consisting of all such 

companies having annual receipts of no 

more than $12.5 million. According to 

Census Bureau data for 1997, there were 

1,311 firms in the industry category 

Cable and Other Program Distribution, 

total, that operated for the entire year. 

Of this total, 1,180 firms had annual 

receipts of $10 million or less, and an 

additional 52 firms had receipts of $10 

million or more but less than $25 

million. Thus, under this standard, we 

estimate that the majority of providers 

in this service category are small 

businesses. 

27. Cable System Operators (Rate 

Regulation Standard). The Commission 

has developed, with SBA approval, its 

own definition of a small cable system 

operator for purposes of rate regulation. 

Under the Commission’s rules, a ‘‘small 

cable company’’ is one serving fewer 

than 400,000 subscribers nationwide. 

Based on our most recent information, 

we estimate that there were 1,439 cable 

operators that qualified as small cable 

companies at the end of 1995. Since 

then, some of those companies may 

have grown to serve over 400,000 

subscribers, and others may have been 

involved in transactions that caused 

them to be combined with other cable 

operators. The Commission’s rules 

define a ‘‘small system,’’ for purposes of 

rate regulation, as a cable system with 

15,000 or fewer subscribers. The 

Commission does not request nor does 

the Commission collect information 

concerning cable systems serving 15,000 

or fewer subscribers, and thus is unable 

to estimate, at this time, the number of 

small cable systems nationwide. 

28. Cable System Operators (Telecom 

Act Standard). The Communications 

Act, as amended, also contains a size 

standard for a small cable system 

operator, which is ‘‘a cable operator 

that, directly or through an affiliate, 

serves in the aggregate fewer than 1 

percent of all subscribers in the United 

States and is not affiliated with any 

entity or entities whose gross annual 

revenues in the aggregate exceed 

$250,000,000.’’ The Commission has 

determined that there are 68,500,000 

subscribers in the United States. 

Therefore, an operator serving fewer 

than 685,000 subscribers shall be 

deemed a small operator if its annual 

revenues, when combined with the total 

annual revenues of all of its affiliates, do 

not exceed $250 million in the 

aggregate. Based on available data, we 

find that the number of cable operators 

serving 685,000 subscribers or less totals 

approximately 1,450. Although it seems 

certain that some of these cable system 

operators are affiliated with entities 

whose gross annual revenues exceed 

$250,000,000, we are unable at this time 

to estimate with greater precision the 

number of cable system operators that 

would qualify as small cable operators 

under the definition in the 

Communications Act.

29. Multipoint Distribution Service, 

Multichannel Multipoint Distribution 

Service, and ITFS. Multichannel 

Multipoint Distribution Service (MMDS) 

systems, often referred to as ‘‘wireless 

cable,’’ transmit video programming to 

subscribers using the microwave 

frequencies of the Multipoint 

Distribution Service (MDS) and 

Instructional Television Fixed Service 

(ITFS). In connection with the 1996 

MDS auction, the Commission 

established a small business size 

standard as an entity that had annual 

average gross revenues of less than $40 

million in the previous three calendar 

years. The MDS auctions resulted in 67 

successful bidders obtaining licensing 

opportunities for 493 Basic Trading 

Areas (BTAs). Of the 67 auction 

winners, 61 met the definition of a small 

business. MDS also includes licensees 

of stations authorized prior to the 

auction. In addition, the SBA has 

developed a small business size 

standard for Cable and Other Program 

Distribution, which includes all such 

companies generating $12.5 million or 

less in annual receipts. According to 

Census Bureau data for 1997, there were 

a total of 1,311 firms in this category, 

total, that had operated for the entire 

year. Of this total, 1,180 firms had 

annual receipts of under $10 million 

and an additional 52 firms had receipts 

of $10 million or more but less than $25 

million. Consequently, we estimate that 

the majority of providers in this service 

category are small businesses that may 

be affected by the rules and policies 

adopted herein. This SBA small 

business size standard also appears 

applicable to ITFS. There are presently 

2,032 ITFS licensees. All but 100 of 

these licenses are held by educational 

institutions. Educational institutions are 

included in this analysis as small 

entities. Thus, we tentatively conclude 

that at least 1,932 licensees are small 

businesses. 

30. Local Multipoint Distribution 

Service. Local Multipoint Distribution 

Service (LMDS) is a fixed broadband 

point-to-multipoint microwave service 

that provides for two-way video 

telecommunications. The auction of the 

1,030 Local Multipoint Distribution 

Service (LMDS) licenses began on 

February 18, 1998 and closed on March 

25, 1998. The Commission established a 

small business size standard for LMDS 

licenses as an entity that has average 

gross revenues of less than $40 million 

in the three previous calendar years. An 

additional small business size standard 

for ‘‘very small business’’ was added as 

an entity that, together with its affiliates, 

has average gross revenues of not more 

than $15 million for the preceding three 

calendar years. The SBA has approved 

these small business size standards in 

the context of LMDS auctions. There 

were 93 winning bidders that qualified 

as small entities in the LMDS auctions. 

A total of 93 small and very small 

business bidders won approximately 

277 A Block licenses and 387 B Block 

licenses. On March 27, 1999, the 

Commission re-auctioned 161 licenses; 

there were 40 winning bidders. Based 

on this information, we conclude that 

the number of small LMDS licenses 

consists of the 93 winning bidders in 

the first auction and the 40 winning 

bidders in the re-auction, for a total of 

133 small entity LMDS providers. The 

license terms require the licensees to 

build their wireless facilities within ten 

years of the grant. As a result, more 

information on the licensees will 

become available in the year 2008, when 

the licensees are required to show the 

Commission that they have achieved 

substantial service as part of the 

application renewal process. 

31. Electric Power Generation, 

Transmission and Distribution. This 

industry group comprises 

establishments primarily engaged in 

generating, transmitting, and/or 

distributing electric power. 

Establishments in this industry group 

may perform one or more of the 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 249 / Wednesday, December 29, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 77921

following activities: (1) Operate 

generation facilities that produce 

electric energy; (2) operate transmission 

systems that convey the electricity from 

the generation facility to the distribution 

system; and (3) operate distribution 

systems that convey electric power 

received from the generation facility or 

the transmission system to the final 

consumer. The SBA has developed a 

small business size standard for the 

category of Electric Power Generation, 

Transmission and Distribution. Under 

that standard, a firm is small if, 

including its affiliates, its total electric 

output for the preceding fiscal year did 

not exceed 4 million megawatt hours. 

According to Census Bureau data for 

1997, there were 1,519 firms in this 

category that operated for the entire 

year. Census data do not track electric 

output and we have not determined 

how many of these firms fit the SBA 

definition for small, with fewer than 4 

million megawatt hours of electric 

output. Consequently, the Commission 

estimates that all 1,519 firms may be 

considered small by the SBA definition. 

IV. Description of Projected Reporting, 

Recordkeeping, and Other Compliance 

Requirements for Small Entities 

32. The Order extends the data 

collection for five years and adopts 

changes to the Form 477 that will affect 

reporting, recordkeeping, and other 

compliance requirements. The Order 

requires all facilities-based providers of 

broadband connections to end users to 

report broadband data, all LECs to 

report local telephone service data, and 

all mobile telephone carriers to report 

mobile telephone data. The other 

changes to the Form 477 are described 

below. 

33. The Form 477 changes: 

• Require cable systems that use (or 

whose affiliates or agents use) the cable 

system’s own plant to provide 

broadband cable modem connections 

also to report a best estimate of the 

extent to which those connections are 

available to the residential end user 

premises to which the cable system 

offers cable programming service. 

• Require ILECs that use (or whose 

affiliates or agents use) the ILEC’s own 

telephone plant to provide broadband 

DSL connections also to report a best 

estimate of the extent to which those 

connections are available to the 

residential end user premises to which 

the ILEC provides local telephone 

service. 

• Require filers to report the 

percentage of connections that have 

information transfer rates exceeding 200 

kilobits per second (kbps) in both 

directions and rates in the faster 

direction that are, respectively: (1) 

Greater than 200 kbps and less than 2.5 

megabits per second (mbps); (2) greater 

than or equal to 2.5 mbps and less than 

10 mbps; (3) greater than or equal to 10 

mbps and less than 25 mbps; (4) greater 

than or equal to 25 mbps and less than 

100 mbps; and (5) greater than or equal 

to 100 mbps. (In the current Form 477 

program, filers report the percentage of 

connections that are faster than 2 mbps 

in both directions.) 

• In place of the previous 

requirement that all filers report 

broadband connections over ‘‘other 

traditional wireline including 

symmetric xDSL technology’’ at the end 

user location, require filers to report 

broadband connections separately for 

‘‘symmetric xDSL’’ and ‘‘traditional 

wireline such as T-carrier’’ technologies. 

• Require filers to report Zip Code 

lists separately for asymmetric xDSL, 

symmetric xDSL, cable modem, optical 

carrier (fiber to the end user), satellite, 

terrestrial fixed wireless, terrestrial 

mobile wireless, electric power line, and 

(as a single category) other technologies. 

(In the current Form 477 program, filers 

report a single list of Zip Codes in 

which the filer has at least one 

subscriber to broadband service without 

indicating the type of technology used.) 

• Require filers to estimate the 

percentage of reported broadband 

connections that have information 

transfer rates exceeding 200 kbps in 

both directions, and that connect to 

residential end user premises.

• Require reporting competitive LECs 

explicitly to distinguish their use of 

unbundled network element (UNE) 

loops from their use of the UNEPlatform, and explicitly to report the 

extent to which they provide telephone 

service lines by reselling another 

carriers’ services (such as Centrex or 

special access) or facilities obtained 

under commercial arrangements. (In the 

current Form 477 program, competitive 

LECs report their use of all types of 

UNEs together, and competitive LECs’

use of resold service and facilities 

obtained under commercial 

arrangements must be estimated, as a 

residual, from other data they report.) 

• Remove the requirement, in the 

current Form 477 program, that LECs 

must estimate the types of customers 

unaffiliated carriers serve by means of 

the services and facilities the LEC 

provides under ‘‘Total Service Resale’’

arrangements, other resale 

arrangements, or as unbundled network 

elements (UNEs). 

• Remove the requirement, in the 

current Form 477 program, that LECs 

must report the extent to which they use 

local loop facilities that they own and 

UNE loops that they obtain from another 

carrier to provision the services they 

provide to unaffiliated carriers for 

resale. 

• Remove the requirement, in the 

current Form 477 program, that LECs 

must report information related to their 

‘‘collocation’’ arrangements with 

unaffiliated carriers. 

• Require LECs report the extent to 

which they are also the end user’s 

default interstate long distance carrier. 

V. Steps Taken To Minimize the 

Significant Economic Impact on Small 

Entities, and Significant Alternatives 

Considered 

34. The RFA requires an agency to 

describe any significant alternatives that 

it has considered in reaching its 

proposed approach, which may include 

the following four alternatives: (1) The 

establishment of differing compliance or 

reporting requirements or timetables 

that take into account the resources 

available to small entities; (2) the 

clarification, consolidation, or 

simplification of compliance or 

reporting requirements under the rule 

for small entities; (3) the use of 

performance, rather than design, 

standards; and (4) an exemption from 

coverage of the rule, or any part thereof, 

for small entities. 

35. We have had the benefit of four 

year’s experience since the adoption of 

the original Form 477 reporting 

program. Accordingly, in the Notice, we 

sought comment on ways that the 

Commission might improve this data 

gathering effort. The Notice asked 

whether the collection of more granular 

data would enhance the Commission’s 

ability to understand the status and 

degree of broadband deployment 

pursuant to section 706 of the 1996 Act. 

At the same time, the Notice asked for 

comment on ways by which the 

Commission can limit burdens imposed 

on providers, particularly with regard to 

smaller providers that may have limited 

resources, prevent the dissemination of 

competitively-sensitive information, 

and limit the data collection, wherever 

possible, to information that providers 

routinely keep in the ordinary course of 

business or that is easily derived from 

their records. The proposed changes to 

the Form 477 set forth in the Notice 

would minimize additional reporting 

burden by (1) focusing direct questions 

about service availability on the two 

major residential high-speed services 

and (2) allowing providers of those 

services to estimate state-level service 

availability using methodologies they 

may already employ to inform the 

investment community about systemwide service availability. As a practical 

77922 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 249 / Wednesday, December 29, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 

matter, any additional reporting burdens 

on small entities should be minimal. 

The few small facilities-based 

broadband service providers that 

currently file Form 477 on a voluntary 

basis find that only a few questions 

apply to their situation. 

36. The Notice asked whether 

eliminating—or lowering—the reporting 

threshold for broadband data (i.e., at 

least 250 high-speed lines (or wireless 

channels) in a state connecting end 

users to the Internet) would yield 

significantly improved data about 

broadband deployment, particularly in 

rural areas, and requested that parties 

identify with specificity any associated 

burdens. The Notice similarly asked 

about the benefits and specific 

associated burdens of lowering the 

reporting threshold for local telephone 

competition data (i.e., at least 10,000 

local telephone service lines (or wireless 

channels), or at least 10,000 mobile 

telephone service subscribers, in a 

state). At the same time, the Notice 

expressly stated the Commission’s 

desire and intention to work closely 

with service providers, including small 

entities, to minimize burdens wherever 

possible, particularly for smaller 

providers that may have limited 

resources. 

37. In the Order, we take several 

significant steps to minimize the 

burdens of reporting broadband 

information on small entities. First, we 

simplify the new Form 477 from the one 

proposed in the Notice. We expect that 

this simplification will reduce the time 

and administrative burden to all 

carriers, including small entities. Next, 

we eliminate the proposed requirements 

for carriers to report the number of 

broadband connections, by technology, 

in particular Zip Codes, or to report, for 

each Zip Code, any information about 

the number of connections provided in 

various ‘‘speed tiers.’’

38. In this Order, we also take several 

significant steps to minimize the 

burdens of reporting local telephone 

service data. We do this by eliminating 

several reporting requirements of the 

original Form 477. In the new and 

simplified Form 477, LECs are no longer 

required to report information about 

how they provision the wholesale local 

telephone service connections that they 

report they provide to unaffiliated 

carriers. Also, we no longer require 

LECs to report information about how 

they provision unbundled network 

elements (UNEs) that they report they 

provide to unaffiliated carriers. We will 

also no longer require LECs to report 

information about special access circuits 

that they provide. To the extent that 

carriers (e.g., competitive LECs) obtain 

special access circuits, or private line 

circuits, from unaffiliated LECs and use 

them to provision switched access lines 

to their own end-user customers, 

however, they will continue to include, 

in their own Form 477 filings, the 

switched access lines that they 

provision in this manner. 

39. To further simplify the filing 

process and reduce the administrative 

burdens on all carriers, we will no 

longer require filers to provide a 

separate, redacted file when the filer 

requests confidential treatment of 

reported data. The new and simplified 

Form 477 promulgated by this Order 

will continue to enable filers to request 

confidential treatment of their data by 

using a drop-down box located on the 

first page of the Form 477 to indicate 

that claim. Then, if the Commission 

receives a request for, or proposes the 

disclosure of, information reported on 

that particular Form 477, the filer will 

be notified and afforded the opportunity 

to make the necessary showing that the 

data should not be disclosed. We will 

continue the current practice of 

releasing only aggregated broadband 

information in our published reports to 

protect against release of filer-specific 

information directly or indirectly, as 

might occur, for example, if published 

aggregates could be compared to 

redacted files. 

VI. Federal Rules That May Duplicate, 

Overlap, or Conflict With the Proposed 

Rules 

40. The FCC Form 477 promulgated in 

this Order and the FCC Form 325 

(Annual Report of Cable Systems) 

collect data on cable modem and cabletelephony service subscribers. The Form 

325, however, focuses on cable physical 

system (PSID) data. A Form 325 is 

required from each PSID that has at least 

20,000 subscribers and from a random 

sample of PSIDs that have fewer than 

20,000 subscribers. The data are 

associated on the form with other 

aspects of physical system operation to 

give a complete picture of related 

aspects of PSID operation. By contrast, 

the requirement to report cable modem 

service connections on Form 477 

applies to holding companies whose 

subsidiaries and affiliates provide highspeed connections to end users in a 

particular state, and the requirement to 

report cable-telephony lines applies 

when the holding company provides 

local telephone service lines in a 

particular state. Form 325 collects 

information based on operations as of a 

typical day in the last full week of June. 

Form 477 collects data as of June 30 and 

December 31. In the new Form 477 

promulgated by this Order, facilitiesbased providers report information 

about high-speed connections on Form 

477, which, for its intended purposes, 

focuses on and is analyzed on a holding 

company rather than PSID basis. 

Ordering Clauses 

Accordingly, it is ordered that, 

pursuant to sections 1–5, 10, 11, 201–

205, 215, 218–220, 251–271, 303(r), 332, 

403, 502, and 503 of the 

Communications Act of 1934, as 

amended, 47 U.S.C. 151–155, 160, 161, 

201–205, 215, 218–220, 251–271, 303(r), 

332, 403, 502, and 503, and pursuant to 

section 706 of the Telecommunications 

Act of 1996, 47 U.S.C. 157nt, this 

ORDER, with all attachments, is hereby 

adopted. 

The rules in this document contain 

information collection requirements that 

have not been approved by OMB. The 

Federal Communications Commission 

will publish a document in the Federal 

Register announcing the effective date. 

It is further ordered that providers 

subject to the requirements and 

regulation established in this Order 

shall complete and file the amended 

Local Telephone Competition and 

Broadband Reporting Form (FCC Form 

477) no later than September 1, 2005, 

and semiannually thereafter. 

It is further ordered that the 

Commission’s Consumer Information 

Bureau, Reference Information Center, 

shall send a copy of the Local 

Telephone Competition and Broadband 

Reporting ORDER, including the Final 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, to the 

Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small 

Business Administration. 

FCC Form 477 and Instructions 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 249 / Wednesday, December 29, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 77923


ER29DE04.048</GPH>
77924 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 249 / Wednesday, December 29, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 


ER29DE04.049</GPH>
Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 249 / Wednesday, December 29, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 77925


ER29DE04.050</GPH>
77926 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 249 / Wednesday, December 29, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 


ER29DE04.051</GPH>
Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 249 / Wednesday, December 29, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 77927


ER29DE04.052</GPH>
77928 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 249 / Wednesday, December 29, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 


ER29DE04.053</GPH>
Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 249 / Wednesday, December 29, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 77929

BILLING CODE 6712–01–C


ER29DE04.054</GPH>
77930 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 249 / Wednesday, December 29, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 

FCC Form 477, Instructions for 

September 1, 2005 Filing (of data as of 

6/30/05) 

OMB No: 3060–0816; Expiration Date: 

xx/xx/xxxx. 

Estimated Average Burden Hours Per 

Response: 10 Hours. 

Instructions for Local Telephone 

Competition and Broadband Reporting 

Form (FCC Form 477) 

I. Purpose 

FCC Form 477 collects information 

about broadband connections to end 

user locations, and about wired and 

wireless local telephone services, in 

individual states. The term ‘‘state’’

includes the District of Columbia and 

the ‘‘Territories and possessions’’ (see

47 U.S.C. 153(40)). Data obtained from 

this form will be used to describe the 

deployment of broadband infrastructure 

and competition to provide local 

telecommunications services. See Local 

Telephone Competition and Broadband 

Reporting, Report and Order, FCC 04–

266 (rel. Nov. 12, 2004) for additional 

information about this data collection. 

II. Who Must File This Form? 

Three types of entities must file this 

form. For purposes of this information 

collection, the term ‘‘entity’’ (and 

synonyms used in these instructions) 

includes all commonly-controlled or 

commonly-owned affiliates. (See 47 

U.S.C. 153(1) (establishing a 10 percent 

equity interest, or the equivalent 

thereof, as indicia of ownership.)) • Facilities-based Providers of 

Broadband Connections to End User 

Locations: Entities that are facilitiesbased providers of broadband 

connections—which, for purposes of 

this information collection, are wired 

‘‘lines’’ or wireless ‘‘channels’’ that 

enable the end user to receive 

information from and/or send 

information to the Internet at 

information transfer rates exceeding 200 

kilobits per second (kbps) in at least one 

direction—must complete and file the 

applicable portions of this form for each 

state in which the entity provides one 

or more such connections to end user 

locations. For the purposes of Form 477, 

an entity is a ‘‘facilities-based’’ provider 

of broadband connections to end user 

locations if it owns the portion of the 

physical facility that terminates at the 

end user location, if it obtains 

unbundled network elements (UNEs), 

special access lines, or other leased 

facilities that terminate at the end user 

location and provisions/equips them as 

broadband, or if it provisions/equips a 

broadband wireless channel to the end 

user location over licensed or 

unlicensed spectrum. Such entities 

include incumbent and competitive 

local exchange carriers (LECs), cable 

system operators, fixed wireless service 

providers (including ‘‘wireless ISPs’’), 

terrestrial and satellite mobile wireless 

service providers, MMDS providers, 

electric utilities, municipalities, and 

other entities. (Such entities do not 

include equipment suppliers unless the 

equipment supplier uses the equipment 

to provision a broadband connection 

that it offers to the public for sale. Such 

entities also do not include providers of 

fixed wireless services (e.g., ‘‘Wi-Fi’’

and other wireless ethernet, or wireless 

local area network, applications) that 

only enable local distribution and 

sharing of a premises broadband 

facility.) For such entities, the 

applicable portions of the form are: (1) 

The Cover Page; (2) Part I; (3) Part IV (if 

necessary); and (4) The relevant 

portion(s) of Part V. • Providers of Wired or Fixed 

Wireless Local Telephone Services: 

Incumbent and competitive LECs must 

complete and file the applicable 

portions of the form for each state in 

which they provide local exchange 

service to one or more end user 

customers (which may include ‘‘dialup’’ ISPs). For such entities, the 

applicable portions of the form are: (1) 

The Cover Page; (2) Part II; (3) Part IV 

(if necessary); and (4) Column (j) of Part 

V. • Providers of Mobile Telephony 

Services: Facilities-based providers of 

mobile telephony services (see 47 CFR 

20.15(b)(1)) must complete and file the 

applicable portions of this form for each 

state in which they serve one or more 

mobile telephony subscribers. A mobile 

telephony service is a real-time, twoway switched voice service that is 

interconnected with the public switched 

network using an in-network switching 

facility that enables the provider to 

reuse frequencies and accomplish 

seamless handoff of subscriber calls. A 

mobile telephony service provider is 

considered ‘‘facilities-based’’ if it serves 

a subscriber using spectrum for which 

the entity holds a license, that it 

manages, or for which it has obtained 

the right to use via lease or other 

arrangement with a Band Manager. For 

such entities, the applicable portions of 

this form. The applicable portions of the 

form are: (1) The Cover Page; (2) Part III; 

and (3) Part IV (if necessary). 

III. Line-by-Line Instructions for 

Completing FCC Form 477

(Note: Key terms that appear in this section 

are summarized in VI. Glossary of Selected 

Terms Appearing on FCC Form 477.)

A. Cover Page—Name and Contact 

Information (All Filers Must Complete 

the Cover Page) 

Line 1: Provide the name of the 

company or operations whose data are 

reported in this form. (If the filer has a 

holding company or other controlling 

entity with a different name, that 

controlling entity’s name must be 

reported in Line 3 of the Cover Page.)

Line 2: Use the drop-down box to 

indicate whether the data in this form 

are for incumbent LEC (ILEC) operations 

or for non-ILEC operations. (Data for 

affiliated operations in a single state 

may be combined in a single form, 

except that filers may not combine data 

for ILEC operations with data for nonILEC operations.) 

Line 3: Use the drop-down box to 

select the single name, such as a holding 

company name, that identifies all 

commonly-owned or commonlycontrolled entities that are filing Form 

477. (If the appropriate name is not 

included in the provided list, enter the 

appropriate name in the space provided. 

If you have no holding company or 

other controlling entity, enter in Line 3 

the same name as you entered in Line 

1 of the Cover Page.) 

Line 4: Use the drop-down box to 

select the state for which data are 

reported in this form. (You may not 

combine, in a single form, data for 

operations in more than one state. For 

example, the only data that may be 

reported in a ‘‘headquarters state’’ form 

are data for operations within that 

specific state.) 

Line 5: Provide a contact name for the 

person who prepared this filing. 

Line 6: Provide the telephone number 

and e-mail address for the contact 

person listed in Line 5 of the Cover 

Page. 

Line 7: Use the drop-down box in Line 

7 to indicate whether this filing is an 

original or a revised filing. (You must 

file a revised form if you discover 

mistakes as specified in Section IV.D. of 

these instructions.) 

Line 8: Use the drop-down box to 

indicate whether you request nondisclosure of information reported in 

this form. You may request nondisclosure if you believe some or all of 

the information reported in this form is 

privileged and confidential and that 

public disclosure of such information 

would likely cause substantial harm to 

the competitive position of the filer.

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 249 / Wednesday, December 29, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 77931

B. Part I.A: Broadband 

Include in Part I.A: In Part I.A., 

facilities-based providers of broadband 

connections to end user locations report 

information about those connections. 

See page 1 of these instructions for 

definitions of facilities-based provider 

and broadband connection. End users 

are residential, business, institutional 

and government entities who use 

broadband services for their own 

purposes and who do not resell such 

services to other entities or incorporate 

such services into retail Internet-access 

services that they market to end users. 

(Note that an Internet Service Provider 

is not an ‘‘end user’’ for purposes of Part 

I of FCC Form 477.) The end users of 

retail services delivered over the 

broadband connections reported in Part 

I.A. may be billed by the filer (including 

affiliates), by an agent of the filer, or by 

an unaffiliated entity. In categorizing 

lines as ‘‘broadband,’’ filers should 

consider the end user’s authorized 

maximum information transfer rate 

(speed) on that connection. Do not 

convert into voice-grade equivalent 

measures any connections reported in 

Part I.A. 

Exclude in Part I.A: Exclude 

subscribership connections for cable 

television service and other multichannel video programming service; 

video-on-demand type service unless it 

is bundled with Internet-type access or 

uses Internet-type delivery protocols; 

and services that do connect to the 

Internet but restrict the end user to both 

transmitting data to the Internet and 

receiving data from the Internet at 

information transfer rates (speeds) of 

200 kbps or less. Exclude connections 

between two locations of the same 

business or other end user entity (such 

as point-to-point connections within 

private or semi-private data networks or 

corporate telephone systems). Exclude 

high-capacity connections between 

network components within the public 

switched telephone network or the 

Internet (note that such connections do 

not terminate at an end user location). 

Exclude in Part I.A. high-capacity 

dedicated connections (special access 

circuits) between end users and 

interexchange (telephone) carrier points 

of presence. 

Lines in Part I.A 

Report broadband connections to end 

user locations on Lines A.I–1 through 

A.I–10 based on the technology 

employed by the part of the connection 

that actually connects to the end user 

location. If different technologies are 

used in the two directions of 

information transfer (downstream and 

upstream), report the connection in the 

technology category for the higher-rate 

direction. Count only connections that 

are in service, including connections 

over which you (including affiliates or 

agents) provide an Internet-access 

service to the end user and connections 

over which an unaffiliated entity (which 

is not your agent) provides an Internetaccess service to the end user. 

Line A.I–1: Report the number of 

broadband connections provided over 

asymmetric xDSL technologies. Do not 

convert these connections into a voicegrade equivalent measure. 

Line A.I–2: Report the number of 

broadband connections provided over 

symmetric xDSL technologies. Do not 

convert these connections into a voicegrade equivalent measure. 

Line A.I–3: Report the number of 

broadband connections provided over 

traditional wireline facilities, such as Tcarrier. Do not include broadband 

connections provided over symmetric 

xDSL service, but report such 

connections in Line A.I–2. Do not 

convert these connections into a voicegrade equivalent measure.

Line A.I–4: Report the number of cable 

modem connections. Do not convert 

these connections into a voice-grade 

equivalent measure. 

Line A.I–5: Report the number of 

broadband connections provided over 

optical carrier terminations at the enduser premises. (Note that broadband 

connections that are provisioned over 

optical fiber facilities used elsewhere in 

the network should not be reported in 

this category. For example, connections 

provisioned as ‘‘fiber to the curb’’ do not 

qualify because, by using a non-fiber 

‘‘drop,’’ they are not ‘‘fiber to the 

home.’’) Do not convert these 

connections into a voice-grade 

equivalent measure. 

Line A.I–6: Report the number of 

broadband connections provided over 

satellite facilities. Do not convert these 

connections into a voice-grade 

equivalent measure. 

Line A.I–7: Report the number of 

broadband connections provided over 

terrestrial fixed wireless facilities 

(whether provisioned/equipped over 

licensed spectrum or over spectrum 

used on an unlicensed basis). Do not 

convert these connections into a voicegrade equivalent measure. (Do not 

report those fixed wireless services (e.g., 

‘‘Wi-Fi’’ and other wireless ethernet, or 

wireless local area network, 

applications) that only enable local 

distribution and sharing of a premises 

broadband facility.) 

Line A.I–8: Report the number of 

subscribers to broadband services 

provided over terrestrial mobile wireless 

facilities (whether provisioned/

equipped over licensed spectrum or 

over spectrum used on an unlicensed 

basis). Terrestrial wireless broadband 

providers should report the number of 

end users whose mobile devices, such 

as wireless modem laptop cards, 

smartphones, or handsets, are capable of 

sending or receiving data at speeds in 

excess of 200 kbps and whose billing 

addresses are within the areas of 

terrestrial mobile wireless broadband 

availability as reported in Part V. 

Line A.I–9: Report the number of 

broadband connections provided over 

electric power lines. Do not convert 

these connections into a voice-grade 

equivalent measure. 

Line A.I–10: Report the number of 

broadband connections provided over 

all other technologies. Do not convert 

these connections into a voice-grade 

equivalent measure. Note that the filer 

must identify each specific technology 

used to provide the connections 

reported in Line A.I–10, and the 

corresponding number of connections 

for each specific technology, in the 

comment section of Part IV of the form. 

Columns in Part I.A 

General Note about Reporting 

Percentage Breakouts: Parts I, II, and III 

of Form 477 direct filers to provide 

percentage breakouts for specific counts 

of connections. If disaggregated counts 

exist for another purpose, then these 

must be used to calculate the requested 

percentage breakouts. However, filers 

are not expected to calculate 

percentages based on exhaustive counts 

performed solely for this task. Rather, 

where disaggregated counts do not exist, 

filers may provide good faith estimates 

of percentages based on the best 

information available to the filer. For 

example, if there is a pricing distinction 

between services provided to residential 

end users, then billing information may 

be used to estimate the percentage of 

connections provided to such end users. 

In the absence of such information, 

however, filers should rely on studies 

done for other purposes such as 

marketing and business plan 

information, demographic data, etc. A 

filer should conduct limited special 

studies only in the event that it cannot 

provide estimates of percentage 

breakouts that it reasonably expects to 

be accurate within plus or minus five 

percentage points. 

Column (a): Report the total number 

of broadband connections as described 

in each of Lines A.I–1 through A.I–10, 

above. 

Column (b): Report the percentage of 

total connections reported in column (a) 

that are residential connections in the 

77932 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 249 / Wednesday, December 29, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 

sense that these connections are used to 

deliver Internet-access services that are 

primarily purchased by, designed for, 

and/or marketed to residential end 

users. (Such Internet-access services 

may differ in price, ‘‘speed tier,’’ and 

other features from Internet-access 

services that are primarily purchased 

by, designed for, and/or marketed to 

non-residential end users.) 

Column (c): Report the percentage of 

total connections reported in column (a) 

that are provided over your own local 

loop facilities, or the wireless last-mile 

equivalent. Your own such facilities 

include wired local loop facilities that 

you (including affiliates) owned, 

wireless connections to end user 

locations that you (including affiliates) 

have provisioned/equipped over 

spectrum that you use on an unlicensed 

basis or over spectrum for which you 

hold a license, manage, or have obtained 

the right to use via lease or other 

arrangement with a Band Manager, and 

facilities you obtained the right to use 

from unaffiliated entities as dark fiber or 

satellite transponder capacity (and that 

you used as part of your own system). 

Do not include, in column (c), 

broadband connections to end users that 

you provided over UNEs, special access 

lines, and other leased lines that you 

obtained from an unaffiliated entity and 

equipped as broadband. 

Column (d): Report the percentage of 

total connections reported in column (a) 

that are billed (or incorporated in a 

service billed) to end users by the filer 

(including affiliates) or its agents. Do 

not include in this percentage any lines 

reported in column (a) that are billed to 

an unaffiliated Internet Service Provider 

(ISP) that has incorporated the filer’s 

broadband service into a premium 

Internet-access service marketed under 

the unaffiliated ISP’s own name. 

Note on columns (e)–(j) of Part I.A:

The percentages reported in columns 

(e)–(j) of Part I.A refer, in each case, to 

connections that carry information, at 

the end user location, at information 

transfer rates exceeding 200 kbps in 

both directions. In categorizing 

broadband connections in this manner, 

filers should consider the end user’s 

authorized maximum information 

transfer rate (speed) on that connection. 

Column (e): Report the percentage of 

total connections reported in column (a) 

that carry information, at the end user 

location, at information transfer rates 

exceeding 200 kbps in both directions 

and that are residential connections in 

the sense that they are used to deliver 

Internet-access services that are 

primarily purchased by, designed for, 

and/or marketed to residential end 

users. (As noted in the instructions for 

column (b), above, such Internet-access 

services may differ in price, ‘‘speed 

tier,’’ and other features from Internetaccess services that are primarily 

purchased by, designed for, and/or 

marketed to non-residential end users.) 

Column (f): Report the percentage of 

total connections reported in column (a) 

that carry information, at the end user 

location, at information transfer rates 

exceeding 200 kbps in both directions 

and, in the faster direction, at rates 

greater than 200 kbps and less than 2.5 

mbps. 

Column (g): Report the percentage of 

total connections reported in column (a) 

that carry information, at the end user 

location, at information transfer rates 

exceeding 200 kbps in both directions 

and, in the faster direction, at rates 

greater than or equal to 2.5 mbps and 

less than 10 mbps.

Column (h): Report the percentage of 

total connections reported in column (a) 

that carry information, at the end user 

location, at information transfer rates 

exceeding 200 kbps in both directions 

and, in the faster direction, at rates 

greater than or equal to 10 mbps and 

less than 25 mbps. 

Column (i): Report the percentage of 

total connections reported in column (a) 

that carry information, at the end user 

location, at information transfer rates 

exceeding 200 kbps in both directions 

and, in the faster direction, at rates 

greater than or equal to 25 mbps and 

less than 100 mbps. 

Column (j): Report the percentage of 

total connections reported in column (a) 

that carry information, at the end user 

location, at information transfer rates 

exceeding 200 kbps in both directions 

and, in the faster direction, at rates 

greater than or equal to 100 mbps. 

C. Part I.B: Broadband (continued) 

Incumbent LECs that report xDSL 

(asymmetric or symmetric) connections 

in Part I.A (or whose affiliates report 

such connections) must complete Line 

B.I–11. Cable system operators that 

report cable modem connections (or 

whose affiliates report such 

connections) in Part I.A. must complete 

Line B.I–12. 

Line B.I–11: Of those residential end 

user premises in this state to which you 

(including affiliates) can deliver 

telephone service over local loop 

facilities that you own (or over the fixed 

wireless last-mile equivalent), report 

your best estimate of the percentage of 

premises to which broadband 

(asymmetric or symmetric) xDSL service 

is also available from you (or your 

affiliate, or an agent of you or your 

affiliate) over those facilities. 

Line B.I–12: Of those residential end 

user premises in this state to which you 

(including affiliates) can offer cable 

television service over cable plant that 

you own, report the best estimate of the 

percentage of premises to which 

broadband cable modem service also is 

available from you (or your affiliate, or 

an agent of you or your affiliate) over 

that plant. 

Residential end user premises include 

residential living units (e.g., single 

family dwellings and individual 

households in multiple dwelling units 

such as apartments, condominiums, 

mobile home parks, etc.) and also 

individual living units in such 

institutional settings as college 

dormitories and nursing homes. For the 

purposes of this data collection, 

residential end user premises also 

include other end user locations to 

which you (including your affiliates and 

agents) market broadband services that 

are primarily designed for residential 

use. 

Guidance on generating a ‘‘best 

estimate’: Rather than setting out 

detailed methodologies to which filers 

must adhere in reporting information in 

Part I.B., we intend to rely on current 

‘‘best practices’’ in the local exchange 

and cable television industries to 

provide us with carefully considered 

estimates. Filers should note the 

following points. (1) The reported 

estimate of xDSL or cable modem 

service availability should not require 

degradation, outside of normal 

operating parameters, of the service 

quality of the filer’s most heavily 

purchased type(s) of xDSL or cable 

modem service. (2) Filers should take 

into account rule-of-thumb lessons from 

the experience of deploying particular 

broadband services in similar areas (e.g., 

differences between actual and 

theoretical availability of xDSL service 

to end user premises in areas in which 

the service already has been deployed, 

such as may arise due from loop 

conditioning factors and loop lengths). 

D. Part II: Wireline and Fixed Wireless 

Local Telephone 

Include in Part II: Report lines or 

wireless channels (hereafter, ‘‘lines’’) 

that you (including affiliates) use to 

provide voice telephone service in this 

state. For purposes of this data 

collection, ‘‘voice telephone service’’

means local exchange or exchange 

access services that allow end users to 

originate and/or terminate local 

telephone calls on the public switched 

network, whether used by the end user 

for voice telephone calls or for other 

types of calls carried over the public 

switched network (for example, lines 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 249 / Wednesday, December 29, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 77933

used for facsimile equipment or lines 

used occasionally or exclusively for 

‘‘dial-up’’ connection to the Internet). 

See ‘‘Note for reporting channelized 

service,’’ below. 

Exclude in Part II: Do not report in 

Part II lines not yet in service, lines used 

for interoffice trunking, company 

official lines, lines used for special 

access service, or lines that were 

reported in Part I of this form. Do not 

report in Part II any lines that connect 

two locations of the same end user 

customer, ISP, or communications 

carrier. Where you are already reporting 

the portion of a circuit between the end 

user and your switching center, do not 

separately count the portion of that 

circuit between your switching center 

and a circuit switched, Internet 

protocol, or ATM network, irrespective 

of whether you multiplexed the circuit 

onto a higher-capacity facility between 

your switching center and that network. 

Note for reporting channelized service: 

In Part II.A and Part II.B, providers must 

report voice-grade equivalent lines. 

Count as one voice-grade equivalent 

line: traditional analog POTS lines, 

Centrex-CO extensions, and Centrex-CU 

trunks. 

Count lines based on how they are 

charged to the customer rather than how 

they are physically provisioned. That is, 

when a customer is charged for 

channelized service, report the number 

of activated, charged-for channels rather 

than the theoretical capacity of the line. 

Examples: Count Basic Rate Integrated 

(BRI) Services Digital Network (ISDN) 

lines as two voice-grade equivalent 

lines. Count fully-channelized PRI 

circuits (including PRIs that are used 

exclusively to provide local 

connectivity to ‘‘dial-up’’ ISPs) as 23 

voice-grade equivalent lines. But report, 

for example, 8 voice-grade equivalent 

lines if a customer is charged for 8 

trunks that happen to be provisioned 

over a DS1 circuit. If a customer is 

charged for a fully-channelized DS1 

circuit, however, report 24 voice-grade 

equivalent lines. In Part II.C, however, 

any high-capacity UNEs should not be 

reported in voice-grade equivalents. 

UNEs should be reported as actual 

circuit counts. Note for competitive 

LECs providing local exchange service 

over hybrid fiber-coaxial cable systems: 

If you cannot determine the number of 

lines from your records, you may report 

the number of subscribers.

Lines in Part II 

In Line A.II–1 (service provided to 

end users) and Lines B.II–2 through 

B.II–3 (service provided to unaffiliated 

carriers for resale), report voice-grade 

equivalent lines used to provide voice 

telephone service. See ‘‘Note for 

reporting channelized service,’’ above. 

Line A.II–1: Report total voice-grade 

equivalent lines that you (including 

affiliates and agents) provided—that is, 

billed—directly to end users. Include 

lines provided to end users by your 

agents or under traditional marketing 

arrangements; for example, include 

lines provided to shared-tenant service 

providers. Note that an Internet Service 

Provider (ISP) may be an end user of 

local exchange service lines. (For 

example, a ‘‘dial-up’’ ISP may purchase 

channelized PRI circuits so that its 

customers can reach it via a local 

telephone call.) 

Line B.II–2: Report total voice-grade 

equivalent local telephone service lines 

that you provided to unaffiliated 

telecommunications carriers under a 

Total Service Resale arrangement (i.e., 

provided pursuant to section 251(c)(4) 

of the Communications Act of 1934, as 

amended). 

Line B.II–3: Report total voice-grade 

equivalent local telephone service lines 

that you provided to unaffiliated 

telecommunications carriers under 

other arrangements, such as Centrex/

Centron or special access service, that 

provide the unaffiliated carrier with a 

connection to the end user premises and 

enable the unaffiliated carrier to provide 

local telephone service to the end user. 

In Lines C.II–4 and C.II–5, report 

counts of circuits. Do not convert 

circuits to voice-grade equivalent 

measures. 

Line C.II–4: Report the number of 

circuits you provided to unaffiliated 

telecommunications carriers under an 

unbundled network element (UNE) loop 

arrangement, where you do not provide 

switching for that circuit. Do not 

convert any high capacity circuits 

provided under such UNE arrangements 

into voice-grade equivalent measures. 

Line C.II–5: Report the number of 

circuits you provided to unaffiliated 

telecommunications carriers under a 

UNE loop arrangement, where you also 

provide switching for that circuit (i.e., 

‘‘UNE-Platform’’). Do not convert any 

high-capacity circuits provided under 

such UNE arrangements into voicegrade equivalent measures. 

Columns in Part II 

Column (a): For Lines A.II–1 through 

B.II–3, report voice-grade equivalent 

lines used to provide voice telephone 

service, as defined above. For Lines 

C.II–4 and C.II–5, report the number of 

circuits (i.e., not the voice-grade 

equivalent of those circuits). 

Columns (b)–(j): Complete columns 

(b)–(j) for Line A.II–1. See also ‘‘General 

note about reporting percentage 

breakouts,’’ above. 

Column (b): Report the percentage of 

the lines reported in column (a) that are 

used for residential service. Include 

lines provided to shared-tenant service 

providers in apartment buildings and 

similar residential settings. ILEC filers 

may report based on the percentage of 

lines reported in column (a) that are 

tariffed residential lines, with an 

appropriate adjustment for lines 

provided under shared-tenant service 

arrangements. Carriers that do not have 

separate residential tariffs or price lists 

should use marketing or other 

information about the demographic 

characteristics of the areas they serve to 

develop a comparable estimate, or 

should undertake a limited special 

study. 

Column (c): Report the percentage of 

the lines reported in column (a) for 

which you (including affiliates) are the 

default interstate long distance carrier, 

i.e., the (facilities-based or reseller) 

carrier to which an interstate long 

distance call is routed automatically, 

without the use of any access code by 

the end user. 

Column (d): Report the percentage of 

the lines reported in column (a) that are 

used for residential service (as specified 

in the instructions for column (b), 

above) and for which you (including 

affiliates) are the default interstate long 

distance carrier (as specified in the 

instructions for column (c), above). 

Column (e): Report the percentage of 

the lines reported in column (a) that are 

provided over your own local loop 

facilities connecting to the end user’s 

premises. Count as your own such 

facilities, those wired local loop 

facilities you (including affiliates) own, 

those facilities you obtain the right to 

use from unaffiliated entities as dark 

fiber or satellite transponder capacity 

(and that you use as part of your own 

system), those fixed-wireless 

connections to end user premises that 

are deployed over spectrum for which 

you hold a license, manage, or have 

obtained the right to use via lease or 

other agreement with a Band Manager, 

or those fixed-wireless connections that 

are deployed over spectrum that you use 

on an unlicensed basis. Do not include, 

in column (c), lines provided over UNE 

loops, special access lines, or other 

leased lines that you obtained from an 

unaffiliated carrier. 

Note for competitive LECs that own 

telephone switches: A competitive LEC 

should include, in column (e), a line for 

which it provided its own switching 

only if it also owned (as just discussed) 

the local loop facilities that connect to 

the end user’s premises. 

77934 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 249 / Wednesday, December 29, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 

Column (f): Report the percentage of 

lines reported in column (a) that are 

provided over UNE loops that you 

obtained from an unaffiliated carrier 

without also obtaining UNE switching 

from that carrier. 

Column (g): Report the percentage of 

lines reported in column (a) that are 

provided over UNE-Platform (i.e., the 

combination of loop UNE, switching 

UNE, and transport UNE) that you 

obtained from an unaffiliated carrier.

Column (h): Report the percentage of 

lines reported in column (a) that are 

provided by reselling a 

telecommunications service (such as 

Centrex/Centron or special access) that 

you obtained from an unaffiliated 

carrier, or by using facilities that you 

obtained from an unaffiliated carrier 

under a commercial arrangement. 

Column (i): Report the percentage of 

lines reported in column (a) that are 

delivered over coaxial cable facilities 

used in the part of the line that connects 

to the end user premises (‘‘cable 

telephony’’). 

Column (j): Report the percentage of 

lines reported in column (a) that are 

delivered over fixed wireless facilities 

used in the part of the line that connects 

to the end user premises. 

E. Part III: Mobile Local Telephone 

Line A. III–1: Report all mobile voice 

telephony subscribers served over your 

own facilities that give customers the 

ability to place or receive calls from the 

public switched telephone network. 

(See column (a), below, for how to count 

subscribers.) Include: satellite, cellular, 

and PCS telephone service and other 

terrestrial mobile services; and, units in 

service that combine voice telephone 

with other services. Report subscribers 

that you (including affiliates) serve 

using spectrum for which you hold a 

license, manage, or have obtained the 

right to use via lease or other agreement 

with a Band Manager. Do not report any 

subscribers that you serve by reselling 

an unaffiliated carrier’s mobile 

telephone service.

Note: Exclude mobile services that 

customers cannot use to directly place calls 

to subscribers of ordinary telephone service, 

such as dispatch services and one-way or 

two-way paging services. Also exclude voice 

services that permit communications 

between only a narrow range of locations 

such as automobile units that permit drivers 

to communicate only with a specific road 

service.

Column (a): Report the total number 

of mobile voice telephony subscribers in 

the state that are served over your own 

facilities. Count as a subscriber a mobile 

handset, car-phone, or other revenuegenerating, active, voice unit that has a 

unique phone number and that can 

place and receive calls from the public 

switched network. Include in column 

(a) subscribers that you (including 

affiliates) bill directly (including 

through agents), pre-paid subscribers, 

and subscribers served via unaffiliated 

mobile telephone service resellers. 

Subscriber counts by state should be 

based on the area codes of the phone 

numbers provided to subscribers. 

Column (b): Report the percentage of 

subscribers in column (a) that you bill 

directly (including through agents) or 

serve on a pre-paid basis. Do not 

include subscribers that are billed by an 

unaffiliated mobile telephone service 

reseller. 

F. Part IV: Explanations and Comments 

Filers that must report: If there is a 

non-zero entry in column (a) of Line 

A.I–10 of Part I of a form, the filer must 

identify each specific technology used 

to provide the broadband connections 

reported in Line A.I–10, and the 

corresponding number of connections 

for each specific technology, in the 

comment section of Part IV of the form. 

Other filers: Complete Part IV to 

furnish relevant explanatory 

information with your data. For 

example, an explanation should be 

provided if a percentage figure has 

changed noticeably from earlier filings. 

In Part IV, filers should identify the Part 

and Line to which their comment 

applies in the columns provided. 

G. Part V: Zip Code Listings 

Line V–1: Report, in the appropriate 

column, the 5-digit Zip Codes—for this 

state—in which you provide at least one 

of the broadband connections reported 

in Part I.A, or at least one of the voicegrade telephone service lines provided 

to end users reported in Part II, Line 

II.A–1. Do not report line counts or 

subscriber counts by Zip Code.) 

Column (a)–(i): If you file broadband 

information in Part I, you must provide, 

for each individual technology 

indicated by the column head, a list of 

Zip Codes in the state in which at least 

one of the broadband connections 

reported in Part I is in service—except 

that the Zip Codes reported in column 

(g) should be the Zip Codes in the state 

in which the mobile wireless broadband 

service provider’s service is advertised 

and available to actual and potential 

subscribers. 

Column (j): If you file local telephone 

service information in Part II, Line II.A–

1, you must provide a list of Zip Codes 

in the state in which you have end user 

customers for your voice telephone 

service. (See the definition of ‘‘voice 

telephone service,’’ above.) Providers of 

mobile telephony services that report 

data in Part III should not report this 

Zip Code information.

Note: Zip Code lists reported in a form 

should be reviewed prior to filing to 

eliminate any out-of-state Zip Codes (such as 

may appear in Zip Code lists generated 

directly from billing databases).

IV. General Information 

A. Where and When to File 

1. When to File 

• March 1st of each year: providers 

must file data as of December 31 of the 

preceding year.

• September 1st of each year: 

providers must file data as of June 30 of 

the same year. 

2. Where To File 

All filers must deliver to the FCC the 

signed, original paper copy of the 

Certification Statement. The 

Certification Statement is the single 

page that constitutes Section V of these 

instructions. Filers must deliver 

completed Form 477(s) to the FCC on 

electronic media. Paper copies of 

completed Form 477s may not be 

submitted. Acceptable electronic media 

are spreadsheet files attached to an email message, or one or more IBM 

format compact discs or 3.5-inch floppy 

diskettes containing such files. The 

latter should be clearly labeled to 

identify contents by (at a minimum): 

FCC Form 477 (6/30/05 data), name of 

filer, and the states for which data are 

included. In all cases, filers should use 

up-to-date virus detection software to 

ensure that electronic media are virusfree. 

Attention: The United States Postal 

Service (USPS) requires all First Class, 

Priority, and Express Mail addressed to 

the Zip Code in which the FCC 

Headquarters is located to be irradiated 

(cleaned) prior to delivery. Because 

irradiation can damage compact discs 

and floppy diskettes, filers are 

encouraged to submit Form 477 using 

one of the following three alternatives—

preferably e-mail. (Use only one filing 

method; do not make duplicate filings. 

A filer who is unable to use one of the 

following delivery methods should 

contact the Industry Analysis and 

Technology Division, Wireline 

Competition Bureau, at (202) 418–0940 

or via TTY at (202) 417–0484.) 

E-mail: Filers are encouraged to 

deliver completed Form 477(s) as 

attachments to one or more e-mail 

messages sent to FCC477@fcc.gov. Filers 

submitting multiple files may use a zip 

utility to compress them. The subject 

field of the e-mail should contain the 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 249 / Wednesday, December 29, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 77935

phrase: FCC Form 477 due 9/1/05. If 

multiple e-mails must be sent, the 

subject line should so indicate; for 

example: FCC Form 477 due 9/1/05 

(message 1 of 3). Filers submitting Form 

477(s) by e-mail may deliver the signed, 

original paper copy of the Certification 

Statement by USPS first-class mail 

addressed to: FCC FORM 477 (ATTN: 

WCB/IATD, Room 6–A220), Federal 

Communications Commission, 445 12th 

Street, SW., Washington, DC 20554. 

(Alternatively, filers may deliver the 

signed, original copy of the Certification 

Statement by one of the following 

methods.) 

Overnight delivery service other than 

USPS Express Mail or Priority Mail:

Compact discs, or floppy diskettes, 

containing completed Form 477(s)—

accompanied by the signed, original 

copy of the Certification Statement—

may be delivered by an overnight 

delivery service other than USPS 

Express Mail or Priority Mail (e.g., UPS, 

DHL, Federal Express). Such deliveries 

must be addressed and delivered to: 

FCC FORM 477 (ATTN: WCB/IATD, 

Room 6–A220), Federal 

Communications Commission, 9300 

East Hampton Drive, Capitol Heights, 

MD 20743. Filers who want a 

confirmation of receipt may include a 

stamped, self-addressed envelope and a 

photocopy of the Certification 

Statement, which will be receiptstamped and returned by mail. 

Hand delivery or messenger delivery:

Local hand and messenger deliveries 

directed to the Commission’s Secretary 

are accepted at 236 Massachusetts 

Avenue, NE., Suite 110, Washington, DC 

20002. All Form 477 filing materials 

delivered to this location must be 

clearly identified to be re-directed to: 

FCC FORM 477 (ATTN: WCB/IATD, 

Room 6–A220).

Note: Because the specific requirements for 

overnight, hand, or messenger delivery may 

change, you may want to consult the Office 

of the Secretary (www.fcc.gov/osec) for the 

most current information.

B. How To File 

1. Preparation of Data Files 

You must file your local competition 

and broadband deployment data using 

the electronic version of Form 477 that 

is available at www.fcc.gov/

formpage.html or by purchase from the 

FCC’s duplicating contractor, Best Copy 

and Printing, Inc. at (202) 488–5300, 

facsimile (202) 488–5563, or through 

www.bcpiweb.com. Form 477 will be 

updated for each filing round, and filers 

must obtain the latest version for each 

filing period. Filers should also obtain 

the latest version of Instructions for 

Form 477. 

The electronic version of Form 477 is 

provided in Excel 2002 format. It 

contains drop-down boxes and some 

edit checks. Once you complete a filing, 

name the file in accordance with 

instructions provided below.

Note: You may not move cells, insert or 

delete rows, or change the validation or 

formatting characteristics of any cell. If the 

FCC cannot load your files into its databases 

as a result of modifications to the file, you 

will be required to correct and resubmit those 

files. Filers must save each Form 477 as a 

separate spreadsheet file. Do not submit 

multiple Form 477 worksheets within a 

single Excel 2002 workbook. Filers choosing 

to submit Form 477(s) on a floppy diskette(s), 

or compact disc(s), may place multiple 

spreadsheet files on a single diskette or 

compact disc.

Each file name must adhere to the 

following convention:

SST#Hyearname.xls, where:

SS is the two letter post office 

abbreviation for the state. 

T is a single character that indicates 

whether the file contains incumbent 

LEC (ILEC) data or non-ILEC data 

(which must be filed separately) and 

whether the file contains revised data. 

Select the appropriate code from the 

following list:

A = original filing for non-ILEC 

operations 

B = original filing for ILEC operations 

C = revised filing for non-ILEC 

operations 

D = revised filing for ILEC operations

# is a ‘‘sequence number’’ (i.e., 1, 2, 

3, etc.) to be used to differentiate what 

would otherwise be identically named 

files when the file names are 

constructed according to the convention 

specified here. If no such redundancy of 

file names occurs, use the number ‘‘1’’

in place of the character ‘‘#’’. 

H is the half of the year of the data 

being filed. Use: ‘‘J’’ for data as of June 

30; ‘‘D’’ for data as of December 31. 

year is the last two digits of the year 

of the data being filed (e.g., for the filing 

due September 1, 2005, reported data 

will be as of June 30, 2005, so 2005 = 

05). 

name is the company name identified 

on Line 1 of the Cover Page of Form 477. 

Example: NCB1J05BellSouth.xls 

2. Additional Directions for Filing 

Filers must submit the original, 

signed paper copy of the Certification 

Statement (which is the single page that 

constitutes Section V of these 

Instructions). The Certification 

statement must be signed in ink by an 

officer of the filer of one of the legal 

entities whose data is included. An 

officer is a person who occupies a 

position specified in the articles of 

incorporation (or partnership 

agreement), and would typically be 

president, vice president for operations, 

vice president for finance, comptroller, 

treasurer or a comparable position. If the 

filer is a sole proprietorship, the owner 

must sign the certification. 

C. Requesting Confidentiality 

Filers may submit a request that 

information on Form 477 not be made 

routinely available for public inspection 

by so indicating on Line 8 of the Cover 

Page of the form and on the Certification 

Statement. See also 47 CFR 0.457, 0.459, 

1.7001(d), 43.11(c); Examination of the 

Current Policy Concerning the 

Treatment of Confidential Information 

Submitted to the Commission, FCC 98–

184 (rel. Aug. 4, 1998). 

D. Obligation To File Revisions 

Filers must submit a revised form if 

the filer discovers a significant error in 

the data. For counts, a difference 

amounting to 5 percent of the filed 

number must be re-filed. For 

percentages, a difference of 5 percentage 

points is significant and must be refiled. Revisions should consist of a 

certification statement and one or more 

electronic files. Carriers should re-file 

all data for a state if one or more data 

element must be revised. A re-filed 

Form 477 spreadsheet should contain 

all appropriate data for the state, not just 

the corrected figures. Note that files 

containing revisions must be given 

different names from the original filings, 

as specified above, Section IV.B.1 of 

these instructions. 

E. Compliance 

Service providers that are required to 

file the Form 477 but fail to do so may 

be subject to enforcement action under 

sections 502 and 503 of the 

Communications Act and any other 

applicable law, 47 U.S.C. 502, 503. 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P

77936 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 249 / Wednesday, December 29, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–C


ER29DE04.055</GPH>
Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 249 / Wednesday, December 29, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 77937

VI. Glossary of Selected Terms 

Appearing on FCC Form 477 

The following selected terms are 

noted on FCC Form 477. The filer must 

interpret these terms in the specific 

context of the detailed reporting 

instructions, above. All terms are as 

defined for the specific purposes of this 

information collection. 

Part I: Broadband 

Broadband connections: Lines (or 

wireless channels) that terminate at an 

end user location and enable the end 

user to receive information from and/or 

send information to the Internet at 

information transfer rates exceeding 200 

kilobits per second (kbps) in at least one 

direction. 

End user: Residential, business, 

institutional and government entities 

who use services for their own purposes 

and who do not resell such services to 

other entities. For purposes of Part I of 

Form 477, an Internet Service Provider 

(ISP) is not an ‘‘end user’’ of a 

broadband connection. 

Facilities-based broadband provider:

A provider of broadband connections to 

end user locations that owns the portion 

of the physical facility that terminates at 

the end user location, obtains 

unbundled network elements (UNEs), 

special access lines, or other leased 

facilities that terminate at end user 

locations and provisions/equips them as 

broadband, or provisions/equips 

broadband wireless channels to end 

user location over licensed spectrum or 

over spectrum that the provider uses on 

an unlicensed basis. 

Local loop: For purposes of this data 

collection, the ‘‘last mile’’ facilities 

(either wired facilities or the wireless 

equivalent) between a central office and 

the end user premises in a telephone 

network, a node and the end user 

premises in a cable network, or the 

analogous portion of the facilities of 

other providers of telephone service or 

broadband connections. 

Own local loop facilities: Those wired 

local loop facilities that the filer 

(including affiliates) actually owns as 

well as facilities that the filer obtains 

the right to use from unaffiliated entities 

as dark fiber or satellite transponder 

capacity (and that the filer uses as part 

of its own system). Also, for purposes of 

Part I of Form 477, broadband wireless 

connections to end user locations that 

the filer provisions/equips as broadband 

over licensed spectrum or over 

spectrum that the filer uses on an 

unlicensed basis. For the purposes of 

Part I of Form 477, this term does not 

include unbundled network elements 

(UNEs), special access lines, or other 

leased lines that the filer obtains from 

an unaffiliated entity and equips as 

broadband. 

Residential broadband connection:

For the purposes of Part I of Form 477, 

broadband connections of a type (as 

indicated by, e.g., price, ‘‘speed,’’ or 

other features) that is primarily 

purchased by, designed for, and/or 

marketed to residential end users. 

Residential end user premises:

Residential living units (e.g., single 

family dwellings and individual 

households in multiple dwelling units 

such as apartments, condominiums, 

mobile home parks, etc.) and also 

individual living units in such 

institutional settings as college 

dormitories and nursing homes. Also 

includes other end user locations to 

which you (including affiliates and 

agents) market broadband services that 

are primarily designed for residential 

use. 

Part II: Wireline and Fixed Wireless 

Local Telephone 

Default interstate long distance 

carrier: The (facilities-based or reseller) 

carrier to which an interstate long 

distance call is routed automatically, 

without the use of any access code by 

the end user. 

End user: Residential, business, 

institutional and government entities 

who use services for their own purposes 

and who do not resell such services to 

other entities. 

Local loop: See the definition 

provided for Part I, above. 

Own local loop facilities: Those wired 

local loop facilities that the filer 

(including affiliates) actually owns as 

well as facilities that the filer obtains 

the right to use from unaffiliated entities 

as dark fiber or satellite transponder 

capacity (and that the filer uses as part 

of its own system). Also, for purposes of 

Part II of Form 477, fixed wireless voicegrade channels to end user locations 

that the filer provisions/equips over 

licensed spectrum or over spectrum that 

the filer uses on an unlicensed basis. 

For the purposes of Part II of Form 477, 

the term does not include voice-grade 

channels to end user premises that the 

filer provisions over UNE loops, special 

access lines, or other leased lines that 

the filer obtains from an unaffiliated 

carrier. 

Residential lines: Lines provided to 

residential end user premises. Also 

includes any lines the filer provides to 

a shared-tenant service provider in an 

apartment building or similar 

residential setting. 

UNE-Platform: The combination of 

unbundled network elements (UNEs) 

consisting of loop UNE, switching UNE, 

and transport UNE. (Unbundled 

network elements are defined in the 

FCC Rules. See 47 CFR 51.319.) 

Voice-grade equivalent: Generally, the 

number of DS0 (64 kbps) lines/channels 

in a higher-capacity circuit. In the 

specific context of Part II of Form 477, 

see ‘‘Note for reporting channelized 

service’’ in the detailed instructions, 

above. 

Voice telephone service: Local 

exchange or exchange access services 

that allow end users to originate and/or 

terminate local telephone calls on the 

public switched network, whether used 

by the end user for voice telephone calls 

or for other types of calls carried over 

the public switched network (for 

example, lines connected to facsimile 

equipment or lines used occasionally or 

exclusively for ‘‘dial-up’’ connection to 

the Internet). 

Part III: Mobile Local Telephone 

Mobile voice telephony subscribers: A 

mobile handset, car-phone, or other 

revenue-generating, active, voice unit 

that has a unique phone number and 

that can place and receive calls from the 

public switched network. 

Own facilities: Spectrum for which 

the filer (including affiliates) holds a 

license, manages, or has obtained the 

right to use via lease or other agreement 

with a Band Manager. 

VII. Disclosure, Privacy Act, Paperwork 

Reduction Act Notice 

The Privacy Act of 1974 and the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

require that when we ask you for 

information, we must first tell you our 

legal right to ask for the information, 

why we are asking for it, and how it will 

be used. We must also tell you what 

could happen if we do not receive it and 

whether your response is voluntary, 

required to obtain a benefit, or 

mandatory under the law. See Privacy 

Act of 1974, Pub. L. 93–579, December 

31, 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(3), and the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Pub. 

L. No. 104–13, 44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.

Our legal right to ask for this 

information is § 1.7000–1.7002, 20.15, 

43.01, 43.11 of the Commission’s rules. 

47 CFR 1.7000–1.7002, 20.15, 43.01, 

43.11. Your response is mandatory.

This collection of information stems 

from the Commission’s authority under 

sections 4(i), 201, 218–220, 251–252, 

303(r), 332, and 403 of the 

Communications Act of 1934, as 

amended, 47 U.S.C. 154(i), 201, 218–

220, 251–252, 303(r), 332, and 403, and 

section 706 of the Telecommunications 

Act of 1996. The data in the worksheet 

will be used to monitor the deployment

77938 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 249 / Wednesday, December 29, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 

of broadband services and the 

development of local telephone service 

competition. Selected information 

provided in the worksheet will be made 

available to the public in a manner 

consistent with the Commission’s rules 

and orders. 

We have estimated that each response 

to this collection of information will 

take, on average, 10 hours. Note that 

many companies will file multiple 

responses and that this estimated 

average reflects the fact that many 

companies will be required to file only 

a single service count that should be 

readily available from internal company 

records. Our estimate includes the time 

to read the instructions, look through 

existing records, gather and maintain 

the required data, enter the data in a 

Form 477 spreadsheet, prepare a floppy 

diskette or compact disc (if the filer 

decides to submit completed Form 

477(s) by a method other than e-mail) 

and certification, and actually file the 

report. If you have any comments on 

this estimate, or how we can improve 

the collection and reduce the burden it 

causes you, please write the Federal 

Communications Commission, AMD–

PERM, Washington, DC 20554, 

Paperwork Reduction Project (3060–

0816). We also will accept your 

comments via the Internet if you send 

them to Judith-B.Herman@fcc.gov. Do 

not send completed FCC Form 477 to 

this address. Remember—You are not 

required to respond to a collection of 

information sponsored by the Federal 

government, and the government may 

not conduct or sponsor this collection, 

unless it displays a currently valid 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) control number. This collection 

has been assigned an OMB control 

number of 3060–0816. 

The Commission is authorized under 

the Communications Act of 1934, as 

amended, to collect the personal 

information we request in this form. If 

we believe there may be a violation or 

potential violation of a statute or a 

Commission regulation, rule, or order, 

your filing may be referred to the 

Federal, state, or local agency 

responsible for investigating, 

prosecuting, enforcing, or implementing 

the statute, rule, regulation, or order. In 

certain cases, the information in your 

worksheet may be disclosed to the 

Department of Justice, court, or other 

adjudicative body when (a) the 

Commission; or (b) any employee of the 

Commission; or (c) the United States 

government, is a party to a proceeding 

before the body or has an interest in the 

proceeding. 

Reporting entities failing to file Form 

477 in a timely fashion may be subject 

to penalties under the Communications 

Act, including sections 502 and 503(b).

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Parts 1, 20 

and 43 

Communications common carriers, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Telecommunications, 

Telephone.

Federal Communications Commission. 

Marlene H. Dortch, 

Secretary.

Rule Changes

■ For the reasons discussed in the 

preamble, the Federal Communications 

Commission amends 47 CFR Parts 1, 20, 

and 43 as follows:

PART 1—PRACTICE AND 

PROCEDURE

■ 1. The authority citation for part 1 is 

revised to read as follows:

Authority: 15 U.S.C. 79 et seq.; 47 U.S.C. 

151, 154(i), 154(j), 155, 157, 225, and 303(r).

■ 2. Section 1.7001 is amended by 

revising paragraph (b) to read as follows:

§ 1.7001 Scope and content of filed 

reports.

* * * * *

(b) All commercial and governmentcontrolled entities, including but not 

limited to common carriers and their 

affiliates (as defined in 47 U.S.C. 153 

(1)), cable television companies, 

Multichannel Multipoint Distribution 

Service (MMDS/MDS) ‘‘wireless cable’’

carriers, other fixed wireless providers, 

terrestrial and satellite mobile wireless 

providers, utilities and others, which 

are facilities-based providers, shall file 

with the Commission a completed FCC 

Form 477, in accordance with the 

Commission’s rules and the instructions 

to the FCC Form 477, for each state in 

which they provide service.

* * * * *

PART 20—COMMERCIAL MOBILE 

RADIO SERVICES

■ 3. The authority citation for part 20 is 

revised to read as follows:

Authority: 47 U.S.C. 154, 157, 160, 251–

254, 303, and 332 unless otherwise noted.

■ 4. Section 20.15 is amended by 

revising paragraph (b)(1) to read as 

follows:

§ 20.15 Requirements under Title II of the 

Communications Act.

* * * * *

(b) * * *

(1) File with the Commission copies 

of contracts entered into with other 

carriers or comply with other reporting 

requirements, or with §§ 1.781 through 

1.814 and 43.21 of this chapter; except 

that commercial radio service providers 

that offer broadband service, as 

described in § 1.7001(a) of this chapter 

or mobile telephony are required to file 

reports pursuant to §§ 1.7000 and 43.11 

of this chapter. For purposes of this 

section, mobile telephony is defined as 

real-time, two-way switched voice 

service that is interconnected with the 

public switched network utilizing an innetwork switching facility that enables 

the provider to reuse frequencies and 

accomplish seamless handoff of 

subscriber calls.

* * * * *

PART 43—REPORTS OF 

COMMUNICATION COMMON 

CARRIERS AND CERTAIN AFFILIATES

■ 5. The authority citation for part 43 

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 47 U.S.C. 154; 

Telecommunications Act of 1996, Pub. L. 

104–104, secs. 402(b)(2)(B), (c), 110 Stat. 56 

(1996) as amended unless otherwise noted. 

47 U.S.C. 211, 219, 220 as amended.

■ 6. Section 43.11 is amended by 

revising paragraph (a) to read as follows:

§ 43.11 Reports of local exchange 

competition data. 

(a) All common carriers and their 

affiliates (as defined in 47 U.S.C. 153 

(1)) providing telephone exchange or 

exchange access service (as defined in 

47 U.S.C. 153 (16) and (47)) or 

commercial mobile radio service 

(CMRS) providers offering mobile 

telephony (as defined in § 20.15(b)(1) of 

this chapter) shall file with the 

Commission a completed FCC Form 

477, in accordance with the 

Commission’s rules and the instructions 

to the FCC Form 477, for each state in 

which they provide service.

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 04–28415 Filed 12–28–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

47 CFR Parts 1, 2, 15, 27, 87 and 97 

[ET Docket No. 00–258; WT Docket No. 02–

8; FCC 04–246] 

Advanced Wireless Services

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: This document facilitates the 

introduction of Advanced Wireless