Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 151 / Friday, August 7, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 39551 

methylpropyl)-25-(1-methylethyl) 

avermectin A1)), and its delta-8,9-isomer 

in/on cattle, fat at 0.03 ppm; cattle, meat 

byproducts at 0.06 ppm; fruit, stone, 

group 12 at 0.09 ppm; goat, fat at 0.01 

ppm; hog, fat at 0.01 ppm; horse, fat at 

0.01 ppm; nut, tree, group 14 at 0.01 

ppm; pistachio at 0.01 ppm; sheep, fat 

at 0.01 ppm; and vegetable, tuberous 

and corm subgroup 01C at 0.01 ppm. 

Existing tolerances for cattle, fat and 

cattle, meat byproducts are revised. 

Existing individual crop tolerances on 

almond, plum, potato, and walnut are 

deleted and replaced by the 

establishment of new crop group 

tolerances. Existing tolerances on 

almond, hulls and plum, prune, dried 

are retained. The expression for existing 

mint tolerances is corrected by deleting 

the term mint and replacing with 

peppermint, tops at 0.010 ppm and 

spearmint, tops at 0.010 ppm. 

VI. Statutory and Executive Order 

Reviews 

This final rule establishes tolerances 

under section 408(d) of FFDCA in 

response to a petition submitted to the 

Agency. The Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) has exempted these types 

of actions from review under Executive 

Order 12866, entitled Regulatory 

Planning and Review (58 FR 51735, 

October 4, 1993). Because this final rule 

has been exempted from review under 

Executive Order 12866, this final rule is 

not subject to Executive Order 13211, 

entitled Actions Concerning Regulations 

That Significantly Affect Energy Supply, 

Distribution, or Use (66 FR 28355, May 

22, 2001) or Executive Order 13045, 

entitled Protection of Children from 

Environmental Health Risks and Safety 

Risks (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997). 

This final rule does not contain any 

information collections subject to OMB 

approval under the Paperwork 

Reduction Act (PRA), 44 U.S.C. 3501 et 

seq., nor does it require any special 

considerations under Executive Order 

12898, entitled Federal Actions to 

Address Environmental Justice in 

Minority Populations and Low-Income 

Populations (59 FR 7629, February 16, 

1994). 

Since tolerances and exemptions that 

are established on the basis of a petition 

under section 408(d) of FFDCA, such as 

the tolerance in this final rule, do not 

require the issuance of a proposed rule, 

the requirements of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act (RFA) (5 U.S.C. 601 et 

seq.) do not apply. 

This final rule directly regulates 

growers, food processors, food handlers, 

and food retailers, not States or tribes, 

nor does this action alter the 

relationships or distribution of power 

and responsibilities established by 

Congress in the preemption provisions 

of section 408(n)(4) of FFDCA. As such, 

the Agency has determined that this 

action will not have a substantial direct 

effect on States or tribal governments, 

on the relationship between the national 

government and the States or tribal 

governments, or on the distribution of 

power and responsibilities among the 

various levels of government or between 

the Federal Government and Indian 

tribes. Thus, the Agency has determined 

that Executive Order 13132, entitled 

Federalism (64 FR 43255, August 10, 

1999) and Executive Order 13175, 

entitled Consultation and Coordination 

with Indian Tribal Governments (65 FR 

67249, November 9, 2000) do not apply 

to this final rule. In addition, this final 

rule does not impose any enforceable 

duty or contain any unfunded mandate 

as described under Title II of the 

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 

(UMRA) (Public Law 104–4). 

This action does not involve any 

technical standards that would require 

Agency consideration of voluntary 

consensus standards pursuant to section 

12(d) of the National Technology 

Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 

(NTTAA), Public Law 104–113, section 

12(d) (15 U.S.C. 272 note). 

VII. Congressional Review Act 

The Congressional Review Act, 5 

U.S.C. 801 et seq., generally provides 

that before a rule may take effect, the 

agency promulgating the rule must 

submit a rule report to each House of 

the Congress and to the Comptroller 

General of the United States. EPA will 

submit a report containing this rule and 

other required information to the U.S. 

Senate, the U.S. House of 

Representatives, and the Comptroller 

General of the United States prior to 

publication of this final rule in the 

Federal Register. This final rule is not 

a ‘‘major rule’’ as defined by 5 U.S.C. 

804(2). 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 180 

Environmental protection, 

Administrative practice and procedure, 

Agricultural commodities, Pesticides 

and pests, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

Dated: July 28, 2009. 

Lois Rossi, 

Director, Registration Division, Office of 

Pesticide Programs. 

■ Therefore, 40 CFR chapter I is 

amended as follows: 

PART 180—AMENDED 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 180 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 21 U.S.C. 321(q), 346a and 371. 

■ 2. In § 180.449, the table to paragraph 

(a) is amended by revising the entries 

for cattle, fat and cattle, meat 

byproducts; by removing the entries for 

almond, plum, mint, potato and walnut; 

and by adding alphabetically, the 

remaining entries in the table to read as 

follows: 

180.449 Avermectin B1 and its delta-8,9- 

isomer; tolerances for residues. 

(a) * * * 

Commodity Parts per 

million 

* * * * * 

Cattle, fat ...................................... 0.03 

Cattle, meat byproducts ............... 0.06 

* * * * * 

Fruit, stone, group 12 ................... 0.09 

Goat, fat ........................................ 0.01 

* * * * * 

Hog, fat ......................................... 0.01 

* * * * * 

Horse, fat ...................................... 0.01 

* * * * * 

Nut, tree, group 14 ....................... 0.01 

* * * * * 

Peppermint, tops .......................... 0.010 

Pistachio ....................................... 0.01 

* * * * * 

Sheep, fat ..................................... 0.01 

* * * * * 

Spearmint, tops ............................ 0.010 

Vegetable, tuberous and corm, 

subgroup 01C ........................... 0.01 

* * * * * 

FR Doc. E9–19006 Filed 8–6–09; 8:45 am 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–S 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

47 CFR Part 63 

[WC Docket No. 04–36; FCC 09–40] 

IP-Enabled Services 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: This document amends the 

Commission’s rules so that providers of 

interconnected Voice over Internet 

Protocol (VoIP) service will be required 

to comply with the same discontinuance 

rules as domestic non-dominant 

telecommunications carriers. These 

rules protect consumers of 

interconnected VoIP service from the 

abrupt discontinuance, reduction or 

impairment of their service by requiring 


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39552 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 151 / Friday, August 7, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

prior notice to customers and the filing 

of an application with the Commission. 

DATES: Effective September 8, 2009 

except for §§ 63.60(a) and (f) which 

affect information collection 

requirements that are not effective until 

approved by the Office of Management 

and Budget. The FCC will publish a 

document in the Federal Register 

announcing the effective date for those 

sections. 

ADDRESSES: Federal Communications 

Commission, 445 12th Street, SW., 

Washington, DC 20554. 

Interested parties may submit PRA 

comments by any of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Federal Communications 

Commission’s Web Site: http:// 

www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• E-mail: Parties who choose to file 

by e-mail should submit their comments 

to Rodney.McDonald@fcc.gov. Please 

include WC Docket Number 04–36 and 

FCC No. 09–40 in the subject line of the 

message. 

• Mail: Parties who choose to file by 

paper should submit their comments to 

Rodney McDonald, Federal 

Communications Commission, Wireline 

Competition Bureau, Room 6–A430, 445 

12th Street, SW., Washington, DC 

20554. 

In addition to filing comments with 

the Office of the Secretary, a copy of any 

comments on the Paperwork Reduction 

Act information collection requirements 

contained herein should be submitted to 

Judith B. Herman, Federal 

Communications Commission, Room 1– 

B441, 445 12th Street, SW., Washington, 

DC 20554, or via the Internet to 

PRA@fcc.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Rodney McDonald, Wireline 

Competition Bureau, (202) 418–1580. 

For additional information concerning 

the Paperwork Reduction Act 

information collection requirements 

contained in this document, contact 

Judith B. Herman at (202) 418–0214, or 

via the Internet at JudithB.Herman@fcc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a 

summary of the Commission’s Report 

and Order (Order) in WC Docket No. 

04–36; FCC 09–40, adopted and released 

May 13, 2009. In this Order, the 

Commission extends to providers of 

interconnected VoIP service the 

discontinuance obligations that apply to 

domestic non-dominant 

telecommunications carriers under 

section 214 of the Communications Act 

of 1934, as amended (the Act). 

Consequently, before an interconnected 

VoIP provider may discontinue, reduce, 

or impair service, it must comply with 

the streamlined discontinuance 

requirements under part 63 of the 

Commission’s rules, including the 

requirements to provide written notice 

to all affected customers, notify relevant 

state authorities, and file an application 

for authorization of the planned action 

with the Commission. 

The complete text of this document is 

available for inspection and copying 

during normal business hours in the 

FCC Reference Information Center, 

Portals II, 445 12th Street, SW., Room 

CY–A257, Washington, DC 20554. This 

document may also be purchased from 

the Commission’s duplicating 

contractor, Best Copy and Printing, Inc., 

445 12th Street, SW., Room CY–B402, 

Washington, DC 20554, telephone (800) 

378–3160 or (202) 863–2893, facsimile 

(202) 863–2898, or via e-mail at http:// 

www.bcpiweb.com. It is also available 

on the Commission’s Web site at 

http://www.fcc.gov. 

Final Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

Analysis 

This document contains new 

information collection requirements. 

The Commission, as part of its 

continuing effort to reduce paperwork 

burdens, invites the general public to 

comment on the information collection 

requirements contained in this Order as 

required by the Paperwork Reduction 

Act of 1995, Public Law 104–13. In 

addition, the Commission notes that 

pursuant to the Small Business 

Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, Public 

Law 107–198, see 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(4), 

we previously sought specific comment 

on how the Commission might ‘‘further 

reduce the information collection 

burden for small business concerns with 

fewer than 25 employees.’’ 

In this present document, we have 

assessed the effects of extending the 

Commission’s discontinuance 

obligations to interconnected VoIP 

providers and find these changes 

warranted. The reasons for this 

conclusion are explained in more detail 

below. 

Report to Congress 

The Commission will send a copy of 

the Order, including this FRFA, in a 

report to Congress and the Government 

Accountability Office pursuant to the 

Congressional Review Act, see 5 U.S.C. 

801(a)(1)(A). In addition, the 

Commission will send a copy of the 

Order, including this FRFA, to the Chief 

Counsel for Advocacy of the SBA. [A 

copy of this present summarized Order 

and FRFA is also hereby published in 

the Federal Register.] 

In this Order, the Commission 

extends to providers of interconnected 

VoIP service the discontinuance 

obligations that apply to domestic nondominant telecommunications carriers 

under section 214 of the 

Communications Act of 1934, as 

amended (the Act). Consequently, 

before an interconnected VoIP provider 

may discontinue, reduce, or impair 

service, it must comply with the 

streamlined discontinuance 

requirements under part 63 of the 

Commission’s rules, including the 

requirements to provide written notice 

to all affected customers, notify relevant 

state authorities, and file an application 

for authorization of the planned action 

with the Commission. 

Synopsis of Order 

1. On March 10, 2004, the 

Commission initiated a rulemaking 

proceeding to examine issues relating to 

IP-enabled services—services and 

applications making use of IP, 

including, but not limited to, VoIP 

services. In the IP-Enabled Services 

Notice, published at 69 FR 16193, 

March 29, 2004, the Commission sought 

comment on numerous issues, including 

whether to extend certain consumer 

protection obligations, such as the 

discontinuance obligations of section 

214, to any class of IP-enabled service 

provider. 

2. Consumers increasingly use 

interconnected VoIP service as a 

replacement for traditional voice 

service, and as interconnected VoIP 

service improves and proliferates, 

consumers’ expectations for this type of 

service trend toward their expectations 

for other telephone services. Thus, in 

this Order, the Commission takes steps 

to protect consumers of interconnected 

VoIP service from the abrupt 

discontinuance, reduction, or 

impairment of their service without 

notice. Specifically, the Commission 

extends to providers of interconnected 

VoIP service the discontinuance 

obligations that apply to domestic nondominant telecommunications carriers 

under section 214 of the 

Communications Act of 1934, as 

amended (the Act). Consequently, 

before an interconnected VoIP provider 

may discontinue service, it must comply 

with the streamlined discontinuance 

requirements under part 63 of the 

Commission’s rules, including the 

requirements to provide written notice 

to all affected customers, notify relevant 

state authorities, and file an application 


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for authorization of the planned 

discontinuance with the Commission. 

3. Scope. The exit certification 

requirements adopted in this Order 

apply to interconnected VoIP service 

and providers of such service. The 

Commission’s rules in 47 CFR 9.3 define 

‘‘interconnected VoIP service’’ as ‘‘a 

service that: (1) Enables real-time, twoway voice communications; (2) requires 

a broadband connection from the user’s 

location; (3) requires Internet protocolcompatible customer premises 

equipment (CPE); and (4) permits users 

generally to receive calls that originate 

on the public switched telephone 

network and to terminate calls to the 

public switched telephone network.’’ To 

date, the Commission has not classified 

interconnected VoIP service as a 

telecommunications service or 

information service as those terms are 

defined in the Act, and does not make 

that determination with this Order. In 

general, providers of facilities-based 

interconnected VoIP services and ‘‘overthe-top’’ interconnected VoIP services 

are subject to the rules in this Order. 

However, section 214 requirements are 

not extended to providers of 

interconnected VoIP services that are 

‘‘mobile services’’ under the Act. If 

anything, these services would be more 

akin to Commercial Mobile Radio 

Service (CMRS) than to traditional 

wireline services. Therefore, for 

purposes of the rules at issue here, it 

makes more sense to treat providers of 

interconnected VoIP services that are 

mobile in the same way as CMRS 

providers, which are not subject to the 

Commission’s section 214 

discontinuance obligations. The 

Commission may revisit this issue if 

circumstances warrant, and in other 

contexts may decline to exempt these 

services from rules that apply to 

interconnected VoIP services generally. 

4. As the Commission has found 

before, unlike certain other IP-enabled 

services, interconnected VoIP service 

increasingly is used as a replacement for 

traditional voice service. Customers 

therefore reasonably expect their 

interconnected VoIP service to include 

the regulatory protections that they 

would receive with traditional voice 

services. The Commission believes it is 

critically important that all customers of 

interconnected VoIP service receive the 

protections of the section 214 

discontinuance requirements. 

Importantly, if customers were to lose 

their telephone service without 

sufficient notice, they would also lose 

access to 911 service—possibly with 

disastrous consequences. This Order, 

therefore, is consistent with, and a 

necessary extension of, the 

Commission’s prior exercises of 

authority to ensure public safety. 

5. Authority. In this Order, the 

Commission concludes that it has 

authority under Title I of the Act to 

impose section 214 discontinuance 

obligations on providers of 

interconnected VoIP services. Ancillary 

jurisdiction may be employed, at the 

Commission’s discretion, when Title I of 

the Act gives the Commission subject 

matter jurisdiction over the service to be 

regulated and the assertion of 

jurisdiction is ‘‘reasonably ancillary to 

the effective performance of [its] various 

responsibilities.’’ The Commission finds 

that both predicates for ancillary 

jurisdiction are satisfied here. 

6. First, as the Commission previously 

has concluded, interconnected VoIP 

service falls within the subject matter 

jurisdiction granted to the Commission 

under the Act. Second, the Commission 

must evaluate whether imposing service 

discontinuance obligations on 

interconnected VoIP providers is 

reasonably ancillary to the effective 

performance of the Commission’s 

responsibilities. As discussed further 

below, the Commission finds that 

sections 1 and 214 of the Act provide 

the requisite nexus, with additional 

support from section 706. Specifically, 

the Commission finds that extending the 

section 214 discontinuance procedures 

to interconnected VoIP service 

providers is ‘‘reasonably ancillary to the 

effective performance of [our] 

responsibilities’’ under these statutory 

provisions, and ‘‘will ‘further the 

achievement of long-established 

regulatory goals’ ’’ to ensure that the 

public is not adversely affected by the 

discontinuance, reduction, or 

impairment of service. 

7. The Commission finds that 

extending domestic discontinuance 

requirements to interconnected VoIP 

providers is reasonably ancillary to the 

Commission’s effective performance of 

its responsibility to promote safety of 

life and property through the use of wire 

and radio communication. Section 1 of 

the Act charges the Commission with 

responsibility for making available ‘‘a 

rapid, efficient, Nation-wide, and worldwide wire and radio communication 

service * * * for the purpose of 

promoting safety of life and property 

through the use of wire and radio 

communication.’’ By extending the 

section 214 discontinuance procedures 

to interconnected VoIP providers, the 

Commission protects American 

consumers from the unanticipated and 

harmful consequences that could follow 

the loss of telephone service without 

sufficient notice. Most notably, as 

mentioned above, if an interconnected 

VoIP provider discontinued service 

without notice, customers would lose 

the ability to call 911 through that 

service. In addition, extending the 

section 214 discontinuance rules to 

interconnected VoIP providers ensures 

customers’ ability to transition to 

alternative service providers in an 

orderly fashion. The Commission 

thereby fosters ‘‘rapid, efficient, Nationwide, and world-wide wire and radio 

communication service’’ by 

safeguarding the public interest in 

continuity of such services— 

irrespective of which provider makes 

those services available. 

8. Section 214(a) of the Act states that 

‘‘[n]o carrier shall discontinue, reduce, 

or impair service to a community, or 

part of a community, unless and until 

there shall first have been obtained from 

the Commission a certificate that neither 

the present nor future public 

convenience and necessity will be 

adversely affected thereby.’’ The 

primary purpose of this requirement is 

to reduce the harm to consumers caused 

by discontinuances of service. The 

Commission finds that the extension of 

section 214 service discontinuance 

requirements to providers of 

interconnected VoIP service is 

reasonably ancillary to the effective 

performance of the Commission’s duty 

to protect the public from the adverse 

effects of service discontinuances. The 

Commission already has found that 

interconnected VoIP service ‘‘is 

increasingly used to replace analog 

voice service’’—a trend that the 

Commission expects will continue. 

From the perspective of a customer 

making an ordinary telephone call, the 

Commission believes that 

interconnected VoIP service is 

functionally indistinguishable from 

traditional telephone service. It 

therefore is reasonable for American 

consumers to have similar expectations 

for these services. In particular, the 

Commission finds it reasonable for 

customers of interconnected VoIP 

service to expect some advance notice 

before the discontinuance of their voice 

service, and notes that customers 

receiving traditional telephone service 

from wireline carriers are already 

entitled to such notice under the 

Commission’s discontinuance 

requirements. By extending the 

Commission’s discontinuance 

requirements to interconnected VoIP 

services, the Commission advances the 

public interest by helping ensure that 

such notice is actually given to 

customers that are making and receiving 

calls regardless of whether they are 

receiving service from a traditional 


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carrier or an interconnected VoIP 

provider. 

9. The Commission is also guided by 

section 706 of the 1996 Act, which, 

among other things, directs the 

Commission to encourage the 

deployment of advanced 

telecommunications capability to all 

Americans by using measures that 

‘‘promote competition in the local 

telecommunications market.’’ The 

assurance that providers of 

interconnected VoIP services are subject 

to service-discontinuance procedures 

comparable to those that apply to nondominant carriers may spur consumer 

demand for those services, in turn 

driving demand for broadband 

connections, and consequently 

encouraging more broadband 

investment and deployment consistent 

with the goals of section 706. 

10. Interconnected VoIP Provider 

Discontinuance Obligations. To protect 

customers from an abrupt 

discontinuance, reduction, or 

impairment of service without adequate 

notice, the Commission requires 

providers of interconnected VoIP 

service to comply with the same service 

discontinuance obligations as domestic 

non-dominant carriers. The Commission 

disagrees with commenters who assert 

that such action is unnecessary in light 

of competitive market conditions. 

Service discontinuance can be 

disruptive to all customers, regardless of 

whether their provider has market 

power or utilizes new technology. As 

the Commission has previously 

concluded with respect to other 

competitive telephone services, even 

customers with competitive alternatives 

need fair notice and information to 

choose a substitute service. Therefore, 

in order to protect customers of 

interconnected VoIP service from 

interrupted service and its associated 

consequences, providers of 

interconnected VoIP service must notify 

all affected customers of their plans to 

discontinue, reduce, or impair service, 

and must provide affected customers 

with an opportunity to inform the 

Commission of resultant hardships. 

11. The Commission’s rules do not 

provide an exhaustive list of what 

constitutes the discontinuance, 

reduction, or impairment of service. In 

the context of interconnected VoIP 

service, the Commission finds that a 

discontinuance, reduction, or 

impairment of service would include, 

but is not limited to, the conversion of 

an interconnected VoIP service to one 

that permits only inbound, but not 

outbound, calls to the PSTN—or one 

that permits only outbound, but not 

inbound, calls to the PSTN. 

12. By requiring interconnected VoIP 

providers to comply with the 

Commission’s streamlined domestic 

discontinuance requirements applicable 

to non-dominant carriers, the 

Commission balances the need to 

protect consumers with the goal, set 

forth in section 230 of the Act, of 

minimizing the regulation of the 

Internet and other interactive computer 

services. As the Commission previously 

has found, § 63.71 of the Commission’s 

rules strikes a good balance between the 

Commission’s dual objectives of 

permitting ease of exit from competitive 

markets and ensuring that the public 

will be given a reasonable period of time 

to make other service arrangements. The 

Commission therefore disagrees with 

commenters who argue that applying 

section 214 exit regulations to 

interconnected VoIP service will unduly 

deter market entry, distort the market, or 

depress investment in new technologies. 

On the contrary, as the Commission has 

stated previously, disparate treatment of 

entities providing the same or similar 

services is not in the public interest as 

it creates distortions in the marketplace 

that may harm consumers. 

13. It is important to note that the 

Commission does not impose any 

economic regulation on providers of 

interconnected VoIP service by this 

Order. Title II and the Commission’s 

rules subject all common carriers to a 

variety of non-economic regulations 

designed to further important public 

policy goals and protect consumers, and 

the Commission has stated previously 

that it ‘‘will not hesitate to adopt any 

non-economic regulatory obligations 

that are necessary to ensure consumer 

protection and network security and 

reliability in this dynamically changing 

broadband era.’’ Included among these 

are the obligations the Commission 

imposes, with this Order, on providers 

of interconnected VoIP service, which 

serve as important consumer protection 

measures. The Commission 

acknowledges that section 230 of the 

Act provides that ‘‘[i]t is the policy of 

the United States—to preserve the 

vibrant and competitive free market that 

presently exists for the Internet and 

other interactive computer services, 

unfettered by Federal or State 

regulation.’’ The Commission’s 

discussion of section 230 in Vonage 

Holdings Corporation Petition for 

Declaratory Ruling Concerning an Order 

of the Minnesota Public Utilities 

Commission, WC Docket No. 03–211, 

Memorandum Opinion and Order, FCC 

04–267, para. 35 (rel. Nov. 12, 2004) 

(Vonage Order) acknowledged this 

policy and cautioned against the 

imposition of undue regulation by 

multiple jurisdictions, but was directed 

at ‘‘traditional common carrier 

economic regulations.’’ The 

Commission finds this order consistent 

with its previous decisions, and does 

not believe that the congressional policy 

statement in section 230 of the Act 

precludes the Commission from 

extending consumer protection 

obligations, such as the section 214 

discontinuance obligations, to 

interconnected VoIP providers. The 

Commission also notes that the 

extension of discontinuance obligations 

to providers of interconnected VoIP 

services has no effect on the 

Commission’s preemption 

determinations in the Vonage Order. 

14. The Commission amends the part 

63 domestic discontinuance rules to 

encompass interconnected VoIP service. 

Accordingly, before an interconnected 

VoIP provider may discontinue, reduce, 

or impair service, it must provide all 

affected customers with written notice 

that includes the provider’s name and 

address, typically by postal mail to the 

customer’s billing address; the date of 

the planned service discontinuance, 

reduction, or impairment; the 

geographic areas where service will be 

affected; a brief description of the 

affected service; and the statement 

found in § 63.71(a)(5)(i) of the 

Commission’s rules. The Commission 

recognizes that because of the 

potentially portable nature of some 

interconnected VoIP services, there may 

be additional and/or alternative means 

of providing effective notice to 

customers of interconnected VoIP 

providers. As such, upon request, the 

Commission may authorize in advance 

another form of notice for good cause 

shown. 

15. On or after the date it provides 

notice to its customers as specified 

above, the interconnected VoIP provider 

must file with the Commission an 

application for authorization of the 

planned discontinuance. The 

application shall identify that the 

provider is an interconnected VoIP 

provider seeking to discontinue, reduce, 

or impair interconnected VoIP services 

and shall include, in addition to the 

information set forth in the notice 

provided to affected customers, a 

caption, a brief description of the dates 

and methods of notice to all affected 

customers, and any other information 

the Commission may require. An 

interconnected VoIP provider shall also 

submit a copy of its application to the 

public utility commission and to the 

Governor of the State(s) in which it 

proposes to discontinue, reduce, or 

impair service, as well as to the 


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Secretary of Defense. In addition to 

providing existing customers with direct 

notice of a proposed discontinuance, 

providers seeking to discontinue, reduce 

or impair service to a community 

should copy the state public utility 

commissions (PUC) and governors’ 

offices in the states where they no 

longer plan to offer services regardless 

of whether customers are currently 

subscribing to their service at the time 

of the application. The Commission 

believes this requirement will serve the 

public interest by, among other things, 

better enabling states to play an active 

role in customer notification efforts 

where circumstances warrant such 

involvement. The Commission 

recognizes that interconnected VoIP 

providers that offer service nationwide 

will need to notify every state PUC and 

governor’s office before discontinuing 

service altogether. However, the 

Commission does not find this 

requirement to be unduly burdensome. 

In particular, notice to the states 

pursuant to § 63.71(a) only requires 

providing state officials with a copy of 

the discontinuance application. This 

simple notice should adequately inform 

states of the impending loss of 

previously available services to their 

communities in a minimally 

burdensome manner—using the same 

procedures that apply to other nondominant providers that plan to 

discontinue nationwide offerings. 

16. The application to discontinue, 

reduce, or impair service shall be 

automatically granted on the 31st day 

after the Commission releases public 

notice of the application unless the 

Commission notifies the applicant that 

the grant will not be automatically 

effective. Thus the Commission believes 

that interconnected VoIP providers will 

be faced with discontinuance 

requirements that are no more 

burdensome than the reduced 

requirements that already apply to 

competitive carriers, and that their 

customers will be afforded a reasonable 

time to make alternative service 

arrangements in the event of a 

discontinuance, reduction, or 

impairment of service. The Commission 

expects that providers of wholesale 

inputs will coordinate and continue to 

work with interconnected VoIP 

providers in the event that a 

discontinuance of service becomes 

necessary so that the discontinuance of 

service can occur in an orderly fashion 

consistent with this Order, the 

Commission’s rules, and the interest of 

customers. 

Congressional Review Act 

17. The Commission will send a copy 

of this Order in a report to be sent to 

Congress and the Government 

Accountability Office pursuant to the 

Congressional Review Act, see 5 U.S.C. 

801(a)(1)(A). 

Final Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

Analysis 

18. This document contains new or 

modified information collection 

requirements. The Commission, as part 

of its continuing effort to reduce 

paperwork burdens, invites the general 

public to comment on the information 

collection requirements contained in 

this Order as required by the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104– 

13. In addition, the Commission notes 

that pursuant to the Small Business 

Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, Public 

Law 107–198, see 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(4), 

the Commission previously sought 

specific comment on how the 

Commission might ‘‘further reduce the 

information collection burden for small 

business concerns with fewer than 25 

employees.’’ 

19. In this present document, we have 

assessed the effects of imposing 

domestic non-dominant discontinuance 

rules on providers of interconnected 

VoIP service, and find that these 

requirements do not place a significant 

burden on businesses with fewer than 

25 employees. 

Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

20. As required by the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act of 1980, as amended 

(RFA), an Initial Regulatory Flexibility 

Analysis (IRFA) was incorporated in the 

IP-Enabled Services Notice in WC 

Docket No. 04–36. The Commission 

sought written public comment on the 

proposals in the IP-Enabled Services 

Notice, including comment on the IRFA. 

The Commission received comments 

specifically directed toward the IRFA 

from three commenters in WC Docket 

No. 04–36. These comments are 

discussed below. This Final Regulatory 

Flexibility Analysis (FRFA) conforms to 

the RFA. 

A. Need for, and Objectives of, the Rules 

21. This Order takes a series of steps 

designed to ensure that consumers of 

interconnected VoIP are afforded 

appropriate consumer protection 

measures consistent with the 

Communications Act of 1934, as 

amended (the Act). Today’s 

telecommunications marketplace is one 

of rapidly changing technology, 

capability, and services. Since the 

Commission first described IP-enabled 

services nearly five years ago, the 

American public has embraced them, 

resulting in the widespread adoption of 

mass market interconnected VoIP and 

broadband services by millions of 

consumers for voice, video, and Internet 

communications. Consumers 

increasingly use interconnected VoIP 

service as a replacement for traditional 

voice service, and as interconnected 

VoIP service improves and proliferates, 

consumers’ expectations for this type of 

service trend toward their expectations 

for other telephone services. 

22. This Order extends to providers of 

interconnected VoIP service the 

discontinuance obligations that apply to 

domestic non-dominant 

telecommunications carriers under 

section 214 of the Act. Consequently, 

before an interconnected VoIP provider 

may discontinue service, it must comply 

with the streamlined discontinuance 

requirements under part 63 of the 

Commission’s rules, including the 

requirements to provide written notice 

to all affected customers, notify relevant 

state authorities, and file an application 

for authorization of the planned 

discontinuance with the Commission. 

B. Summary of Significant Issues Raised 

by Public Comments in Response to the 

IRFA 

23. In this section, the Commission 

responds to comments filed in response 

to the IRFA. To the extent the 

Commission received comments raising 

general small business concerns during 

these proceedings, those comments are 

discussed in the Order. 

24. The Small Business 

Administration (SBA) comments that 

the Commission’s IP-Enabled Services 

Notice does not contain concrete 

proposals and is more akin to an 

advance notice of proposed rulemaking 

or a notice of inquiry. The Commission 

disagrees with the SBA and Menard that 

the Commission should postpone acting 

in this proceeding, thereby postponing 

extending the application of the section 

214 service discontinuance obligations 

to interconnected VoIP services. 

According to SBA and Menard, the 

Commission instead should reevaluate 

the economic impact and the 

compliance burdens on small entities 

and issue a further notice of proposed 

rulemaking in conjunction with a 

supplemental IRFA identifying and 

analyzing the economic impacts on 

small entities and less burdensome 

alternatives. The Commission believes 

these additional steps suggested by SBA 

and Menard are unnecessary because 

small entities already have received 

sufficient notice of the issues addressed 

in this Order, and because the 

Commission has considered the 


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economic impact on small entities and 

the feasibility of alternative approaches 

to minimize the burdens imposed on 

those entities. 

C. Description and Estimate of the 

Number of Small Entities to Which 

Rules Will Apply 

25. 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 SBA. 

26. Small Businesses. Nationwide, 

there are a total of approximately 22.4 

million small businesses according to 

SBA data. 

27. Small Organizations. Nationwide, 

there are approximately 1.6 million 

small organizations. 

1. Telecommunications Service Entities 

a. Wireline Carriers and Service 

Providers 

28. The Commission includes 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. The Commission 

has therefore included small incumbent 

LECs in this RFA analysis, although the 

Commission emphasizes that this RFA 

action has no effect on Commission 

analyses and determinations in other, 

non-RFA contexts. 

29. Incumbent LECs. Neither the 

Commission nor the SBA has developed 

a small business size standard 

specifically for incumbent LECs. The 

appropriate size standard under SBA 

rules is for the category Wired 

Telecommunications Carriers. Under 

that size standard, such a business is 

small if it has 1,500 or fewer employees. 

According to Commission data, 1,311 

carriers have reported that they are 

engaged in the provision of incumbent 

local exchange services. Of these 1,311 

carriers, an estimated 1,024 have 1,500 

or fewer employees and 287 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 this action. 

30. Competitive LECs, Competitive 

Access Providers (CAPs), ‘‘SharedTenant Service Providers,’’ and ‘‘Other 

Local Service Providers.’’ Neither the 

Commission nor the SBA has developed 

a small business size standard 

specifically for these service providers. 

The appropriate size standard under 

SBA rules is for the category Wired 

Telecommunications Carriers. Under 

that size standard, such a business is 

small if it has 1,500 or fewer employees. 

According to Commission data, 1,005 

carriers have reported that they are 

engaged in the provision of either 

competitive access provider services or 

competitive LEC services. Of these 1,005 

carriers, an estimated 918 have 1,500 or 

fewer employees and 87 have more than 

1,500 employees. In addition, 16 

carriers have reported that they are 

‘‘Shared-Tenant Service Providers,’’ and 

all 16 are estimated to have 1,500 or 

fewer employees. In addition, 89 

carriers have reported that they are 

‘‘Other Local Service Providers,’’ and all 

89 are estimated to have 1,500 or fewer 

employees. Consequently, the 

Commission estimates that most 

providers of competitive local exchange 

service, competitive access providers, 

‘‘Shared-Tenant Service Providers,’’ and 

‘‘Other Local Service Providers’’ are 

small entities. 

31. Local Resellers. The SBA has 

developed a small business size 

standard for the category of 

Telecommunications Resellers. Under 

that size standard, such a business is 

small if it has 1,500 or fewer employees. 

According to Commission data, 151 

carriers have reported that they are 

engaged in the provision of local resale 

services. Of these, an estimated 149 

have 1,500 or fewer employees and two 

have more than 1,500 employees. 

Consequently, the Commission 

estimates that the majority of local 

resellers are small entities that may be 

affected by this action. 

32. Toll Resellers. The SBA has 

developed a small business size 

standard for the category of 

Telecommunications Resellers. Under 

that size standard, such a business is 

small if it has 1,500 or fewer employees. 

According to Commission data, 815 

carriers have reported that they are 

engaged in the provision of toll resale 

services. Of these, an estimated 787 

have 1,500 or fewer employees and 28 

have more than 1,500 employees. 

Consequently, the Commission 

estimates that the majority of toll 

resellers are small entities that may be 

affected by this action. 

33. Interexchange Carriers (IXCs). 

Neither the Commission nor the SBA 

has developed a small business size 

standard specifically for providers of 

interexchange services. The appropriate 

size standard under SBA rules is for the 

category Wired Telecommunications 

Carriers. Under that size standard, such 

a business is small if it has 1,500 or 

fewer employees. According to 

Commission data, 300 carriers have 

reported that they are engaged in the 

provision of interexchange service. Of 

these, an estimated 268 have 1,500 or 

fewer employees and 32 have more than 

1,500 employees. Consequently, the 

Commission estimates that the majority 

of IXCs are small entities that may be 

affected by this action. 

b. Satellite Telecommunications and All 

Other Telecommunications 

34. Satellite Telecommunications and 

All Other Telecommunications. These 

two economic census categories address 

the satellite industry. The first category 

has a small business size standard of 

$15 million or less in average annual 

receipts, under SBA rules. The second 

has a size standard of $25 million or less 

in annual receipts. The most current 

Census Bureau data in this context, 

however, are from the (last) economic 

census of 2002, and the Commission 

will use those figures to gauge the 

prevalence of small businesses in these 

categories. 

35. The category of Satellite 

Telecommunications ‘‘comprises 

establishments primarily engaged in 

providing telecommunications services 

to other establishments in the 

telecommunications and broadcasting 

industries by forwarding and receiving 

communications signals via a system of 

satellites or reselling satellite 

telecommunications.’’ For this category, 

Census Bureau data for 2002 show that 

there were a total of 371 firms that 

operated for the entire year. Of this 

total, 307 firms had annual receipts of 

under $10 million, and 26 firms had 

receipts of $10 million to $24,999,999. 

Consequently, the Commission 

estimates that the majority of Satellite 

Telecommunications firms are small 

entities that might be affected by this 

action. 

36. The second category of All Other 

Telecommunications comprises, inter 

alia, ‘‘establishments primarily engaged 

in providing specialized 


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telecommunications services, such as 

satellite tracking, communications 

telemetry, and radar station operation. 

This industry also includes 

establishments primarily engaged in 

providing satellite terminal stations and 

associated facilities connected with one 

or more terrestrial systems and capable 

of transmitting telecommunications to, 

and receiving telecommunications from, 

satellite systems.’’ For this category, 

Census Bureau data for 2002 show that 

there were a total of 332 firms that 

operated for the entire year. Of this 

total, 303 firms had annual receipts of 

under $10 million and 15 firms had 

annual receipts of $10 million to 

$24,999,999. Consequently, the 

Commission estimates that the majority 

of All Other Telecommunications firms 

are small entities that might be affected 

by this action. 

c. Wireless Telecommunications 

Carriers (Except Satellite) 

37. Below, for those services subject 

to auctions, the Commission notes that, 

as a general matter, the number of 

winning bidders that qualify as small 

businesses at the close of an auction 

does not necessarily represent the 

number of small businesses currently in 

service. Also, the Commission does not 

generally track subsequent business size 

unless, in the context of assignments or 

transfers, unjust enrichment issues are 

implicated. 

38. Wireless Telecommunications 

Carriers (except Satellite). Since 2007, 

the Census Bureau has placed wireless 

firms within this new, broad, economic 

census category. Prior to that time, such 

firms were within the now-superseded 

categories of ‘‘Paging’’ and ‘‘Cellular and 

Other Wireless Telecommunications.’’ 

Under the present and prior categories, 

the SBA has deemed a wireless business 

to be small if it has 1,500 or fewer 

employees. Because Census Bureau data 

are not yet available for the new 

category, the Commission will estimate 

small business prevalence using the 

prior categories and associated data. For 

the category of Paging, data for 2002 

show that there were 807 firms that 

operated for the entire year. Of this 

total, 804 firms had employment of 999 

or fewer employees, and three firms had 

employment of 1,000 employees or 

more. For the category of Wireless 

Telecommunications Carriers (except 

Satellite), data for 2002 show that there 

were 1,397 firms that operated for the 

entire year. Of this total, 1,378 firms had 

employment of 999 or fewer employees, 

and 19 firms had employment of 1,000 

employees or more. Thus, the 

Commission estimates that the majority 

of wireless firms are small. 

39. In the Paging Third Report and 

Order, published at 62 FR 15978, April 

3, 1997, the Commission developed a 

small business size standard for ‘‘small 

businesses’’ and ‘‘very small 

businesses’’ for purposes of determining 

their eligibility for special provisions 

such as bidding credits and installment 

payments. 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. 

Additionally, a ‘‘very small business’’ is 

an entity that, together with its affiliates 

and controlling principals, has average 

gross revenues that are not more than $3 

million for the preceding three years. 

The SBA has approved these small 

business size standards. An auction of 

Metropolitan Economic Area licenses 

commenced on February 24, 2000, and 

closed on March 2, 2000. Of the 985 

licenses auctioned, 440 were sold. Fiftyseven companies claiming small 

business status won. An auction of MEA 

and Economic Area (EA) licenses 

commenced on October 30, 2001, and 

closed on December 5, 2001. Of the 

15,514 licenses auctioned, 5,323 were 

sold. One hundred thirty-two 

companies claiming small business 

status purchased 3,724 licenses. A third 

auction, consisting of 8,874 licenses in 

each of 175 EAs and 1,328 licenses in 

all but three of the 51 MEAs 

commenced on May 13, 2003, and 

closed on May 28, 2003. Seventy-seven 

bidders claiming small or very small 

business status won 2,093 licenses. The 

Commission also notes that, currently, 

there are approximately 74,000 

Common Carrier Paging licenses. 

40. 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 or less for each of the three 

preceding years, and a ‘‘very small 

business’’ is an entity with average gross 

revenues of $15 million or less 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. 

41. Wireless Telephony. Wireless 

telephony includes cellular, personal 

communications services (PCS), and 

specialized mobile radio (SMR) 

telephony carriers. As noted earlier, the 

SBA has developed a small business 

size standard for ‘‘Wireless 

Telecommunications Carriers (except 

Satellite)’’ services. Under that SBA 

small business size standard, a business 

is small if it has 1,500 or fewer 

employees. According to Commission 

data, 434 carriers reported that they 

were engaged in the provision of 

wireless telephony. The Commission 

has estimated that 222 of these are small 

under the SBA small business size 

standard. 

42. 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. 

Subsequent events, concerning Auction 

35, including judicial and agency 

determinations, resulted in a total of 163 

C and F Block licenses being available 

for grant. 

43. Narrowband Personal 

Communications Services. The 

Commission held an auction for 

Narrowband PCS licenses that 

commenced on July 25, 1994, and 

closed on July 29, 1994. A second 

auction commenced on October 26, 

1994 and closed on November 8, 1994. 

For purposes of the first two 

Narrowband PCS auctions, ‘‘small 

businesses’’ were entities with average 

gross revenues for the prior three 


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calendar years of $40 million or less. 

Through these auctions, the 

Commission awarded a total of 41 

licenses, 11 of which were obtained by 

four small businesses. To ensure 

meaningful participation by small 

business entities in future auctions, the 

Commission adopted a two-tiered small 

business size standard in the 

Narrowband PCS Second Report and 

Order, published at 65 FR 35843, June 

6, 2000. 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. A third auction commenced 

on October 3, 2001 and closed on 

October 16, 2001. Here, five bidders 

won 317 (Metropolitan Trading Areas 

and nationwide) licenses. Three of these 

claimed status as a small or very small 

entity and won 311 licenses. 

44. 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, the Commission applies the 

small business size standard under the 

SBA rules applicable to ‘‘Wireless 

Telecommunications Carriers (except 

Satellite)’’ companies. This category 

provides that a small business is a 

wireless company employing no more 

than 1,500 persons. Census Bureau data 

for 2002 show that there were 1,397 

firms in this category that operated for 

the entire year. Of this total, 1,378 firms 

had employment of 999 or fewer 

employees, and 19 firms had 

employment of 1,000 employees or 

more. Thus, under this category and size 

standard, the majority of firms can be 

considered small. 

45. 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, published at 62 FR 15978, 

April 3, 1997, the Commission 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. 

A third auction included four licenses: 

2 BEA licenses and 2 EAG licenses in 

the 220 MHz Service. No small or very 

small business won any of these 

licenses. 

46. 800 MHz and 900 MHz 

Specialized Mobile Radio Licenses. The 

Commission awards ‘‘small entity’’ and 

‘‘very small entity’’ bidding credits in 

auctions for Specialized Mobile Radio 

(SMR) geographic area licenses in the 

800 MHz and 900 MHz bands to firms 

that had revenues of no more than $15 

million in each of the three previous 

calendar years, or that had revenues of 

no more than $3 million in each of the 

previous calendar years, respectively. 

These bidding credits apply to SMR 

providers in the 800 MHz and 900 MHz 

bands that either hold geographic area 

licenses or have obtained extended 

implementation authorizations. The 

Commission does not know how many 

firms provide 800 MHz or 900 MHz 

geographic area SMR service pursuant 

to extended implementation 

authorizations, nor how many of these 

providers have annual revenues of no 

more than $15 million. One firm has 

over $15 million in revenues. The 

Commission assumes, for purposes here, 

that all of the remaining existing 

extended implementation 

authorizations are held by small 

entities, as that term is defined by the 

SBA. The Commission has held 

auctions for geographic area licenses in 

the 800 MHz and 900 MHz SMR bands. 

There were 60 winning bidders that 

qualified as small or very small entities 

in the 900 MHz SMR auctions. Of the 

1,020 licenses won in the 900 MHz 

auction, bidders qualifying as small or 

very small entities won 263 licenses. In 

the 800 MHz auction, 38 of the 524 

licenses won were won by small and 

very small entities. 

47. 700 MHz Guard Band Licensees. 

In the 700 MHz Guard Band Order, the 

Commission adopted a small business 

size standard for ‘‘small businesses’’ and 

‘‘very small businesses’’ for purposes of 

determining their eligibility for special 

provisions such as bidding credits and 

installment payments. 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. Additionally, a ‘‘very small 

business’’ is an entity that, together with 

its affiliates and controlling principals, 

has average gross revenues that are not 

more than $3 million for the preceding 

three years. An auction of 52 Major 

Economic Area (MEA) licenses 

commenced on September 6, 2000, and 

closed on September 21, 2000. Of the 

104 licenses auctioned, 96 licenses were 

sold to nine bidders. Five of these 

bidders were small businesses that won 

a total of 26 licenses. A second auction 

of 700 MHz Guard Band licenses 

commenced on February 13, 2001 and 

closed on February 21, 2001. All eight 

of the licenses auctioned were sold to 

three bidders. One of these bidders was 

a small business that won a total of two 

licenses. Subsequently, in the 700 MHz 

Second Report and Order, the 

Commission reorganized the licenses 

pursuant to an agreement among most of 

the licensees, resulting in a spectral 

relocation of the first set of paired 

spectrum block licenses, and an 

elimination of the second set of paired 

spectrum block licenses (many of which 

were already vacant, reclaimed by the 

Commission from Nextel). A single 

licensee that did not participate in the 

agreement was grandfathered in the 

initial spectral location for its two 

licenses in the second set of paired 

spectrum blocks. Accordingly, at this 

time there are 54 licenses in the 700 

MHz Guard Bands and there is no 

auction data applicable to determine 

which are held by small businesses. 

48. 39 GHz Service. The Commission 

created a special small business size 

standard for 39 GHz licenses—an entity 

that has average gross revenues of $40 

million or less in the three previous 

calendar years. An additional size 

standard for ‘‘very small business’’ is: 

An entity that, together with affiliates, 


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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. The 

auction of the 2,173 39 GHz licenses 

began on April 12, 2000 and closed on 

May 8, 2000. The 18 bidders who 

claimed small business status won 849 

licenses. Consequently, the Commission 

estimates that 18 or fewer 39 GHz 

licensees are small entities that may be 

affected by the rules and polices 

adopted herein. 

49. Wireless Cable Systems. Wireless 

cable systems use 2 GHz band 

frequencies of the Broadband Radio 

Service (BRS), formerly Multipoint 

Distribution Service (MDS), and the 

Educational Broadband Service (EBS), 

formerly Instructional Television Fixed 

Service (ITFS), to transmit video 

programming and provide broadband 

services to residential subscribers. 

These services were originally designed 

for the delivery of multichannel video 

programming, similar to that of 

traditional cable systems, but over the 

past several years licensees have 

focused their operations instead on 

providing two-way high-speed Internet 

access services. The Commission 

estimates that the number of wireless 

cable subscribers is approximately 

100,000, as of March 2005. Local 

Multipoint Distribution Service (LMDS) 

is a fixed broadband point-to-multipoint 

microwave service that provides for 

two-way video telecommunications. As 

described below, the SBA small 

business size standard for the broad 

census category of Cable and Other 

Program Distribution, which consists of 

such entities generating $13.5 million or 

less in annual receipts, appears 

applicable to MDS, ITFS and LMDS. 

Other standards also apply, as 

described. 

50. The Commission has defined 

small MDS (now BRS) and LMDS 

entities in the context of Commission 

license auctions. In the 1996 MDS 

auction, the Commission defined a 

small business as an entity that had 

annual average gross revenues of less 

than $40 million in the previous three 

calendar years. This definition of a 

small entity in the context of MDS 

auctions has been approved by the SBA. 

In the MDS auction, 67 bidders won 493 

licenses. Of the 67 auction winners, 61 

claimed status as a small business. At 

this time, the Commission estimates that 

of the 61 small business MDS auction 

winners, 48 remain small business 

licensees. In addition to the 48 small 

businesses that hold BTA 

authorizations, there are approximately 

392 incumbent MDS licensees that have 

gross revenues that are not more than 

$40 million and are thus considered 

small entities. MDS licensees and 

wireless cable operators that did not 

receive their licenses as a result of the 

MDS auction fall under the SBA small 

business size standard for Cable and 

Other Program Distribution. Information 

available to the Commission indicates 

that there are approximately 850 of 

these licensees and operators that do not 

generate revenue in excess of $13.5 

million annually. Therefore, the 

Commission estimates that there are 

approximately 850 small entity MDS (or 

BRS) providers, as defined by the SBA 

and the Commission’s auction rules. 

51. Educational institutions are 

included in this analysis as small 

entities; however, the Commission has 

not created a specific small business 

size standard for ITFS (now EBS). The 

Commission estimates that there are 

currently 2,032 ITFS (or EBS) licensees, 

and all but 100 of the licenses are held 

by educational institutions. Thus, the 

Commission estimates that at least 1,932 

ITFS licensees are small entities. 

52. In the 1998 and 1999 LMDS 

auctions, the Commission defined a 

small business as an entity that has 

annual average gross revenues of less 

than $40 million in the previous three 

calendar years. Moreover, the 

Commission added an additional 

classification for a ‘‘very small 

business,’’ which was defined as an 

entity that had annual average gross 

revenues of less than $15 million in the 

previous three calendar years. These 

definitions of ‘‘small business’’ and 

‘‘very small business’’ in the context of 

the LMDS auctions have been approved 

by the SBA. In the first LMDS auction, 

104 bidders won 864 licenses. Of the 

104 auction winners, 93 claimed status 

as small or very small businesses. In the 

LMDS re-auction, 40 bidders won 161 

licenses. Based on this information, the 

Commission believes that the number of 

small LMDS licenses will include the 93 

winning bidders in the first auction and 

the 40 winning bidders in the reauction, for a total of 133 small entity 

LMDS providers as defined by the SBA 

and the Commission’s auction rules. 

53. 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 LMDS licenses began on February 

18, 1998 and closed on March 25, 1998. 

The Commission established a small 

business size standard for LMDS 

licensees 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, the Commission 

concludes that the number of small 

LMDS licenses consists of the 93 

winning bidders in the first auction and 

the 40 winning bidders in the reauction, for a total of 133 small entity 

LMDS providers. 

54. 218–219 MHz Service. The first 

auction of 218–219 MHz spectrum 

resulted in 170 entities winning licenses 

for 594 Metropolitan Statistical Area 

(MSA) licenses. Of the 594 licenses, 557 

were won by entities qualifying as a 

small business. For that auction, the 

small business size standard was an 

entity that, together with its affiliates, 

has no more than a $6 million net worth 

and, after federal income taxes 

(excluding any carry over losses), has no 

more than $2 million in annual profits 

each year for the previous two years. In 

the 218–219 MHz Report and Order and 

Memorandum Opinion and Order, 

published at 64 FR 59656, November 3, 

1999, the Commission established a 

small business size standard for a 

‘‘small business’’ as an entity that, 

together with its affiliates and persons 

or entities that hold interests in such an 

entity and their affiliates, has average 

annual gross revenues not to exceed $15 

million for the preceding three years. A 

‘‘very small business’’ is defined as an 

entity that, together with its affiliates 

and persons or entities that hold 

interests in such an entity and its 

affiliates, has average annual gross 

revenues not to exceed $3 million for 

the preceding three years. The 

Commission cannot estimate, however, 

the number of licenses that will be won 

by entities qualifying as small or very 

small businesses under its rules in 

future auctions of 218–219 MHz 

spectrum. 

55. 24 GHz—Incumbent Licensees. 

This analysis may affect incumbent 

licensees who were relocated to the 24 

GHz band from the 18 GHz band and 

applicants who wish to provide services 

in the 24 GHz band. The applicable SBA 

small business size standard is that of 

‘‘Wireless Telecommunications Carriers 

(except Satellite)’’ companies. This 


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category 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. Thus, under this 

size standard, the great majority of firms 

can be considered small. These broader 

census data notwithstanding, the 

Commission believes that there are only 

two licensees in the 24 GHz band that 

were relocated from the 18 GHz band, 

Teligent and TRW, Inc. It is our 

understanding that Teligent and its 

related companies have less than 1,500 

employees, though this may change in 

the future. TRW is not a small entity. 

Thus, only one incumbent licensee in 

the 24 GHz band is a small business 

entity. 

56. 24 GHz—Future Licensees. With 

respect to new applicants in the 24 GHz 

band, the small business size standard 

for ‘‘small business’’ is an entity that, 

together with controlling interests and 

affiliates, has average annual gross 

revenues for the three preceding years 

not in excess of $15 million. ‘‘Very 

small business’’ in the 24 GHz band is 

an entity that, together with controlling 

interests and affiliates, has average gross 

revenues not exceeding $3 million for 

the preceding three years. The SBA has 

approved these small business size 

standards. These size standards will 

apply to the future auction, if held. 

2. Cable and OVS Operators 

57. Cable Television Distribution 

Services. The ‘‘Cable and Other Program 

Distribution’’ census category includes 

cable systems operators, closed circuit 

television services, direct broadcast 

satellite services, multipoint 

distribution systems, satellite master 

antenna systems, and subscription 

television services. Since 2007, these 

services have been defined within the 

broad economic census category of 

Wired Telecommunications Carriers; 

that category is defined as follows: 

‘‘This industry comprises 

establishments primarily engaged in 

operating and/or providing access to 

transmission facilities and infrastructure 

that they own and/or lease for the 

transmission of voice, data, text, sound, 

and video using wired 

telecommunications networks. 

Transmission facilities may be based on 

a single technology or a combination of 

technologies. Establishments in this 

industry use the wired 

telecommunications network facilities 

that they operate to provide a variety of 

services, such as wired telephony 

services, including VoIP services; wired 

(cable) audio and video programming 

distribution; and wired broadband 

Internet services. By exception, 

establishments providing satellite 

television distribution services using 

facilities and infrastructure that they 

operate are included in this industry.’’ 

The SBA has developed a small 

business size standard for this category, 

which is: All such firms having 1,500 or 

fewer employees. To gauge small 

business prevalence for these cable 

services the Commission must, 

however, use current census data that 

are based on the previous category of 

Cable and Other Program Distribution 

and its associated size standard; that 

size standard was: All such firms having 

$13.5 million or less in annual receipts. 

According to Census Bureau data for 

2002, there were a total of 1,191 firms 

in this previous category that operated 

for the entire year. Of this total, 1,087 

firms had annual receipts of under $10 

million, and 43 firms had receipts of 

$10 million or more but less than $25 

million. Thus, the majority of these 

firms can be considered small. 

58. Cable Companies and Systems. 

The Commission has also developed its 

own small business size standards, for 

the purpose of cable rate regulation. 

Under the Commission’s rules, a ‘‘small 

cable company’’ is one serving 400,000 

or fewer subscribers, nationwide. 

Industry data indicate that, of 1,076 

cable operators nationwide, all but 

eleven are small under this size 

standard. In addition, under the 

Commission’s rules, a ‘‘small system’’ is 

a cable system serving 15,000 or fewer 

subscribers. Industry data indicate that, 

of 7,208 systems nationwide, 6,139 

systems have fewer than 10,000 

subscribers, and an additional 379 

systems have 10,000–19,999 

subscribers. Thus, under this second 

size standard, most cable systems are 

small. 

59. Cable System Operators. The 

Communications Act of 1934, as 

amended, also contains a size standard 

for small cable system operators, 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 an 

operator serving fewer than 677,000 

subscribers shall be deemed a small 

operator, if its annual revenues, when 

combined with the total annual 

revenues of all its affiliates, do not 

exceed $250 million in the aggregate. 

Industry data indicate that, of 1,076 

cable operators nationwide, all but ten 

are small under this size standard. The 

Commission notes that it neither 

requests nor collects information on 

whether cable system operators are 

affiliated with entities whose gross 

annual revenues exceed $250 million, 

and therefore the Commission is unable 

to estimate more accurately the number 

of cable system operators that would 

qualify as small under this size 

standard. 

60. Open Video Systems (OVS). In 

1996, Congress established the open 

video system (OVS) framework, one of 

four statutorily recognized options for 

the provision of video programming 

services by local exchange carriers 

(LECs). The OVS framework provides 

opportunities for the distribution of 

video programming other than through 

cable systems. Because OVS operators 

provide subscription services, OVS falls 

within the SBA small business size 

standard of Cable and Other Program 

Distribution Services, which consists of 

such entities having $13.5 million or 

less in annual receipts. The Commission 

has certified 25 OVS operators, with 

some now providing service. Broadband 

service providers (BSPs) are currently 

the only significant holders of OVS 

certifications or local OVS franchises. 

As of June, 2005, BSPs served 

approximately 1.4 million subscribers, 

representing 1.5 percent of all MVPD 

households. Affiliates of Residential 

Communications Network, Inc. (RCN), 

which serves about 371,000 subscribers 

as of June, 2005, is currently the largest 

BSP and 14th largest MVPD. RCN 

received approval to operate OVS 

systems in New York City, Boston, 

Washington, D.C. and other areas. The 

Commission does not have financial 

information regarding the entities 

authorized to provide OVS, some of 

which may not yet be operational. The 

Commission thus believes that at least 

some of the OVS operators may qualify 

as small entities. 

61. Satellite Carriers. The term 

‘‘satellite carrier’’ includes entities 

providing services as described in 17 

U.S.C. 119(d)(6) using the facilities of a 

satellite or satellite service licensed 

under part 25 of the Commission’s rules 

to operate in Direct Broadcast Satellite 

(DBS) or Fixed-Satellite Service (FSS) 

frequencies. As a general practice, not 

mandated by any regulation, DBS 

licensees usually own and operate their 

own satellite facilities as well as 

package the programming they offer to 

their subscribers. In contrast, satellite 

carriers using FSS facilities often lease 

capacity from another entity that is 

licensed to operate the satellite used to 


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provide service to subscribers. These 

entities package their own programming 

and may or may not be Commission 

licensees themselves. In addition, a 

third situation may include an entity 

using a non-U.S. licensed satellite to 

provide programming to subscribers in 

the United States pursuant to a blanket 

earth station license. Since 2007, the 

SBA has recognized satellite television 

distribution services within the broad 

economic census category of Wired 

Telecommunications Carriers. The SBA 

has developed a small business size 

standard for this category, which is: All 

such firms having 1,500 or fewer 

employees. The most current Census 

Bureau data, however, are from the last 

economic census of 2002, and the 

Commission will use those figures to 

gauge the prevalence of small 

businesses in this category. Those size 

standards are for the two census 

categories of ‘‘Satellite 

Telecommunications’’ and ‘‘Other 

Telecommunications.’’ Under both prior 

categories, such a business was 

considered small if it had $13.5 million 

or less in average annual receipts. 

62. Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) 

Service. DBS service is a nationally 

distributed subscription service that 

delivers video and audio programming 

via satellite to a small parabolic ‘‘dish’’ 

antenna at the subscriber’s location. 

Because DBS provides subscription 

services, DBS falls within the SBArecognized definition of Wired 

Telecommunications Carriers. However, 

as discussed above, the Commission 

relies on the previous size standard, 

Cable and Other Subscription 

Programming, which provides that a 

small entity is one with $13.5 million or 

less in annual receipts. Currently, only 

two operators—DirecTV and EchoStar 

Communications Corporation 

(EchoStar)—hold licenses to provide 

DBS service, which requires a great 

investment of capital for operation. Both 

currently offer subscription services and 

report annual revenues that are in 

excess of the threshold for a small 

business. Because DBS service requires 

significant capital, the Commission 

believes it is unlikely that a small entity 

as defined by the SBA would have the 

financial wherewithal to become a DBS 

licensee. Nevertheless, given the 

absence of specific data on this point, 

the Commission acknowledges the 

possibility that there are entrants in this 

field that may not yet have generated 

$13.5 million in annual receipts, and 

therefore may be categorized as a small 

business, if independently owned and 

operated. 

63. Fixed-Satellite Service (FSS). The 

FSS is a radiocommunication service 

between earth stations at a specified 

fixed point or between any fixed point 

within specified areas and one or more 

satellites. The FSS, which utilizes many 

earth stations that communicate with 

one or more space stations, may be used 

to provide subscription video service. 

Therefore, to the extent FSS frequencies 

are used to provide subscription 

services, FSS falls within the SBArecognized definition of Wired 

Telecommunications Carriers. However, 

as discussed above, the Commission 

relies on the previous size standard, 

Cable and Other Subscription 

Programming, which provides that a 

small entity is one with $13.5 million or 

less in annual receipts. Although a 

number of entities are licensed in the 

FSS, not all such licensees use FSS 

frequencies to provide subscription 

services. Both of the DBS licensees 

(EchoStar and DirecTV) have indicated 

interest in using FSS frequencies to 

broadcast signals to subscribers. It is 

possible that other entities could 

similarly use FSS frequencies, although 

the Commission is not aware of any 

entities that might do so. 

3. Internet Service Providers 

64. Internet Service Providers. The 

2007 Economic Census places these 

providers, which include voice over 

Internet protocol (VoIP) providers, in 

the category of All Other 

Telecommunications. The SBA small 

business size standard for such firms is: 

those having annual average receipts of 

$25 million or less. The most current 

Census Bureau data on such entities, 

however, are the 2002 data for the 

previous census category called Internet 

Service Providers. The 2002 data show 

that there were 2,529 such firms that 

operated for the entire year. Of those, 

2,437 firms had annual receipts of under 

$10 million, and an additional 47 firms 

had receipts of between $10 million and 

$24, 999,999. Consequently, the 

Commission estimates that the majority 

of ISP firms are small entities that may 

be affected by this action. 

4. Other Internet-Related Entities 

65. Internet Publishing and 

Broadcasting and Web Search Portals. 

The Census Bureau defines this category 

as including ‘‘establishments primarily 

engaged in (1) publishing and/or 

broadcasting content on the Internet 

exclusively or (2) operating Web sites 

that use a search engine to generate and 

maintain extensive databases of Internet 

addresses and content in an easily 

searchable format (and known as Web 

search portals) * * *. Establishments 

known as Web search portals often 

provide additional Internet services, 

such as e-mail, connections to other 

Web sites, auctions, news, and other 

limited content, and serve as a home 

base for Internet users.’’ The SBA small 

business size standard for such firms is: 

those having 500 or fewer employees. 

The most current Census Bureau data on 

such entities, however, are the 2002 

data for the previous two separate 

categories of Internet Publishing and 

Broadcasting, and Web Search Portals 

entities. For the first previous category, 

the 2002 data show that there were 

1,362 firms that operated for the entire 

year. Of these, 1,351 had employment of 

499 or fewer employees, and 11 firms 

had employment of between 500 and 

999. Consequently, the Commission 

estimates that the majority of these firms 

are small entities that may be affected 

by this action. For the second previous 

census category of Web Search Portals, 

the SBA had developed a small business 

size standard of $6.5 million or less in 

average annual receipts. According to 

the data for 2002, there were 342 firms 

in this category that operated for the 

entire year. Of these, 303 had annual 

receipts of under $5 million, and an 

additional 15 firms had receipts of 

between $5 million and $9,999,999. 

Consequently, the Commission 

estimates that the majority of Web 

Search Portals firms are small entities 

that may be affected by this action. 

66. Data Processing, Hosting, and 

Related Services. Entities in this 

category ‘‘primarily * * * provid[e] 

infrastructure for hosting or data 

processing services.’’ The SBA has 

developed a small business size 

standard for this category; that size 

standard is $23 million or less in 

average annual receipts. According to 

Census Bureau data for 2002, there were 

6,877 firms in this category that 

operated for the entire year. Of these, 

6,418 had annual receipts of under $10 

million, and an additional 251 firms had 

receipts of between $10 million and 

$24,999,999. Consequently, the 

Commission estimates that the majority 

of these firms are small entities that may 

be affected by this action. 

67. All Other Information Services. 

‘‘This industry comprises 

establishments primarily engaged in 

providing other information services 

(except new syndicates and libraries 

and archives).’’ The Commission’s 

action pertains to VoIP services, which 

could be provided by entities that 

provide other services such as e-mail, 

online gaming, Web browsing, video 

conferencing, instant messaging, and 

other, similar IP-enabled services. The 

SBA has developed a small business 

size standard for this category; that size 

standard is $6.5 million or less in 


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39562 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 151 / Friday, August 7, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

average annual receipts. According to 

Census Bureau data for 2002, there were 

155 firms in this category that operated 

for the entire year. Of these, 138 had 

annual receipts of under $5 million, and 

an additional four firms had receipts of 

between $5 million and $9,999,999. 

Consequently, the Commission 

estimates that the majority of these firms 

are small entities that may be affected 

by this action. 

D. Description of Projected Reporting, 

Recordkeeping and Other Compliance 

Requirements 

68. In this Order, the Commission 

requires providers of interconnected 

VoIP service to take actions to comply 

with section 214 service discontinuance 

obligations. For example, to protect 

against abrupt termination of service, 

the Order requires providers of 

interconnected VoIP services to be 

subject to the same service 

discontinuance procedures as nondominant carriers. Thus, the 

Commission requires that a provider of 

interconnected VoIP service seeking to 

discontinue service provide all affected 

customers with notice of the planned 

discontinuance of service. Specifically, 

the Order requires an interconnected 

VoIP provider to provide all affected 

customers with its name and address, 

the date of the planned service 

discontinuance, the geographic areas 

where service will be discontinued, a 

brief description of the service to be 

discontinued, and the statement found 

in § 63.71(a)(5)(i) of the Commission’s 

rules. The Order requires written notice 

to be provided to each affected 

customer, but allows the Commission to 

authorize in advance another form of 

notice for good cause shown upon 

request. 

69. The Order also requires an 

interconnected VoIP provider to file 

with the Commission an application for 

authorization of the planned 

discontinuance. The application shall 

identify that the provider is an 

interconnected VoIP provider with 

respect to the service to be discontinued 

and shall include, in addition to the 

information set forth in the notice 

provided to affected customers, a 

caption, a brief description of the dates 

and methods of notice to all affected 

customers, and any other information 

the Commission may require. The Order 

also requires an interconnected VoIP 

provider to submit a copy of its 

application to the public utility 

commission and to the Governor of the 

State(s) in which it proposes to 

discontinue, reduce, or impair service, 

as well as to the Secretary of Defense. 

E. Steps Taken To Minimize Significant 

Economic Impact on Small Entities, and 

Significant Alternatives Considered 

70. The RFA requires an agency to 

describe any significant alternatives that 

it has considered in reaching its 

proposed approach, which may include 

(among others) 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. 

71. The IP-Enabled Services Notice 

sought comment on whether to extend 

consumer protections afforded in the 

Act to subscribers of VoIP or other IPenabled services, and invited comment 

on the effect on small entities. The 

Commission must assess the interests of 

small businesses in light of the 

overriding public interest in protecting 

consumers from interrupted voice 

service and its associated consequences. 

72. In the Order, the Commission 

found that allowing customers of 

interconnected VoIP services to receive 

the benefits of section 214 

discontinuance procedures is 

fundamentally important for the 

protection of consumers. Specifically, 

the Commission found that extending 

section 214 discontinuance procedures 

to interconnected VoIP service 

customers is necessary to protect 

consumers from abrupt and unexpected 

telecommunications service 

interruptions. As the Commission 

stated, even customers with competitive 

alternatives need fair notice and 

information to choose a substitute 

service. The Commission thus found 

that notice of proposed service 

discontinuances is important for the 

protection of all customers of 

interconnected VoIP providers, 

including those of small businesses. In 

considering whether to impose section 

214 service discontinuance obligations 

on interconnected VoIP providers, the 

Commission considered several 

alternatives, including imposing 

streamlined obligations for dominant 

and non-dominant carriers and separate 

notice provisions. The Commission 

concluded that imposing the minimal 

streamlined obligations for nondominant carriers on interconnected 

VoIP providers was appropriate, striking 

a good balance between the 

Commission’s dual objectives of 

permitting ease of exit from competitive 

markets and ensuring that the public 

will be given a reasonable period of time 

to make other service arrangements. The 

Commission further concluded that 

given that these same minimal 

requirements were imposed on nondominant carrier small entities and did 

not result in any hardship, imposing 

these requirements on all 

interconnected VoIP providers, 

including providers that may be small 

entities, would be appropriate. 

Ordering Clauses 

73. Accordingly, it is ordered, 

pursuant to sections 1, 4(i), 4(j), 214, 

and 303(r) of the Communications Act 

of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 151, 

154(i) through (j), 214, 303(r), that the 

Report and Order in WC Docket No. 04– 

36 is adopted and part 63 of the 

Commission’s rules, 47 CFR part 63, is 

amended as set forth in Appendix B. 

74. It is further ordered that, pursuant 

to §§ 1.103(a) and 1.427(a) of the 

Commission’s rules, 47 CFR 1.103(a), 

1.427(a), this Report and Order shall be 

effective September 8, 2009. However, 

the information collection requirements 

contained in the Report and Order will 

become effective following Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) 

approval. 

75. It is further ordered that the 

Commission’s Consumer & 

Governmental Affairs Bureau, Reference 

Information Center, shall send a copy of 

this Report and Order, including the 

Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, to 

the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the 

Small Business Administration. 

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 63 

Cable television, Communications, 

Communications common carriers, 

Discontinuance of service, IP-enabled 

services, Radio, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements, 

Telecommunications, Telegraph, 

Telephone, Voice over Internet Protocol, 

VoIP. 

Federal Communications Commission. 

Marlene H. Dortch, 

Secretary. 

Final Rules 

■ For the reasons discussed in the 

preamble, the Federal Communications 

Commission amends 47 CFR part 63 as 

follows: 


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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 151 / Friday, August 7, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 39563 

PART 63—EXTENSION OF LINES, NEW 

LINES, AND DISCONTINUANCE, 

REDUCTION, OUTAGE AND 

IMPAIRMENT OF SERVICE BY 

COMMON CARRIERS; AND GRANTS 

OF RECOGNIZED PRIVATE 

OPERATING AGENCY STATUS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 63 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: Sections 1, 4(i), 4(j), 10, 11, 

201–205, 214, 218, 403 and 651 of the 

Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 

47 U.S.C. 151, 154(i), 154(j), 160, 201–205, 

214, 218, 403, and 571, unless otherwise 

noted. 

■ 2. Section 63.60 is amended by 

redesignating paragraph (d) as 

paragraph (g); redesignating paragraph 

(c) as paragraph (e); redesignating 

paragraphs (a) and (b) as paragraphs (b) 

and (c), respectively; and adding 

paragraphs (a), (b)(3), (d), and (f) to read 

as follows: 

§ 63.60 Definitions. 

* * * * * 

(a) For the purposes of §§ 63.60 

through 63.90, the term ‘‘carrier,’’ when 

used to refer either to all 

telecommunications carriers or more 

specifically to non-dominant 

telecommunications carriers, shall 

include interconnected VoIP providers. 

(b) * * * 

(3) The conversion of an 

interconnected VoIP service to a service 

that permits users to receive calls that 

originate on the public switched 

telephone network but not terminate 

calls to the public switched telephone 

network, or the converse. 

* * * * * 

(d) The term ‘‘interconnected VoIP 

provider’’ is an entity that provides 

interconnected VoIP service as that term 

is defined in § 9.3 of this chapter. 

* * * * * 

(f) For the purposes of §§ 63.60 

through 63.90, the term ‘‘service,’’ when 

used to refer to a real-time, two-way 

voice communications service, shall 

include interconnected VoIP service as 

that term is defined in § 9.3 of this 

chapter but shall not include any 

interconnected VoIP service that is a 

‘‘mobile service’’ as defined in § 20.3 of 

this chapter. 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. E9–18716 Filed 8–6–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

GENERAL SERVICES 

ADMINISTRATION 

48 CFR Part 502 

[GSAR Amendment 2009–10; GSAR Case 

2008–G501 (Change 38) Docket 2009–0012; 

Sequence 1] 

RIN 3090–AI90 

General Services Administration 

Acquisition Regulation; GSAR Case 

2008–0501, Rewrite of Part 502, 

Definitions of Words and Terms 

AGENCIES: General Services 

Administration (GSA), Office of the 

Chief Acquisition Officer. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The General Services 

Administration (GSA) is amending the 

General Services Administration 

Acquisition Regulation (GSAR) to revise 

sections of GSAR Part 502 that provide 

definitions for general words and terms. 

This section will only contain 

definitions for terms that are used in 

more than one place in the GSAR. 

DATES: Effective Date: August 7, 2009. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

clarification of content, contact Mr. 

Edward Loeb, Procurement Analyst, at 

(202) 501–0650. For information 

pertaining to status or publication 

schedules, contact the Regulatory 

Secretariat (VPR), Room 4041, 1800 F 

Street, NW., Washington, DC 20405, 

(202) 501–4755. Please cite Amendment 

2009–10, GSAR case 2008–G501 

(Change 38). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. Background 

The GSA is amending the GSAR to 

update the text addressing GSAR 

502.101, Definition of Words and 

Terms. This rule is a result of the GSA 

Acquisition Manual (GSAM) Rewrite 

initiative undertaken by GSA to revise 

the GSAM to maintain consistency with 

the FAR, and to implement streamlined 

and innovative acquisition procedures 

that contractors, offerors, and GSA 

contracting personnel can use when 

entering into and administering 

contractual relationships. The GSAM 

incorporates the GSAR as well as 

internal agency acquisition policy. 

The GSA will rewrite each part of the 

GSAR and GSAM, and as each part is 

rewritten, will publish it in the Federal 

Register. 

This rule covers the rewrite of GSAR 

Part 502. The rule revises Part 502 to 

update the text addressing GSAR 

502.101, Definition of Words and 

Terms. The section was changed to 

reflect the merger of the Federal 

Technology Service and Federal Supply 

Service; creation of the Federal 

Acquisition Service; and deletion of the 

title Deputy Associate Administrator of 

Acquisition Policy, and introduction of 

Deputy Chief Acquisition Officer. No 

additional definitions were added. The 

GSA is publishing this as a final rule. 

The changes are considered 

administrative. 

Discussion of Comments 

The GSA published an Advance 

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) 

with request for comments at 71 FR 

7910 on February 15, 2006. The 

comments have been addressed in 

previous Federal Register Notices (FRN) 

based on the part to which the comment 

referred. Remaining comments that were 

not addressed in previous FRN are being 

addressed here. Following are five 

comments. 

1. Comment 

One comment was received from 

numerous small businesses stating that 

they believe the GSAR may 

unnecessarily impose an adverse 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities and 

is concerned that any changes GSA 

might propose will fail to address the 

biggest problem affecting small business 

today. The commenter further states that 

GSA policies must address the major 

problems that continue to allow this to 

happen. The commenter’s main concern 

is that there is not enough oversight at 

the Federal level and large businesses 

have been finding loopholes that result 

in small business contracts not getting 

their fair share of Federal Government 

small business contracts. The 

commenter further states that GSA 

policies must address the major 

problems that continue to allow this to 

happen and that GSA propose policies 

to ensure that 23 percent of Federal 

contracts go to legitimate small 

businesses, as the law requires. 

Response 

The GSA non-concurs. The comment 

is outside the scope of the GSAM. The 

U.S. Government Accountability Office 

has the primary oversight for fraud, 

abuse and loopholes. Further, the GSA 

is only one agency that contributes to 

the government-wide statutory 23 

percent goal. GSA continually exceeds 

the 23 percent goal. 

2. Comment 

Another commenter recommended 

that the GSAR be revised to provide that 

contractors may apply general and 

administrative costs (G&A) to travel 

costs and other direct changes in 


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