[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 215 (Thursday, November 6, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 60034-60035]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-29305]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 64

[CC Docket 96-128; DA 97-2162]


Pay Telephone Reclassification and Compensation Provisions of the 
Telecommunications Act of 1996

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Final rule; petition for waiver.

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SUMMARY: On October 7, 1997, the Common Carrier Bureau granted, on its 
own motion, a limited waiver of five months, until March 9, 1998, to 
those local exchange carriers and payphone service providers that 
cannot provide payphone-specific digits as required by orders in this 
proceeding. This limited waiver applied to the requirement that local 
exchange carriers provide payphone-specific coding digits to payphone 
service providers, and that payphone service providers provide coding 
digits from their payphones before they can receive per-call 
compensation from interexchange carriers for subscriber 800 and access 
code calls, and 0+ and inmate calls. The limited waiver recognized that 
three parties had filed petitions for waiver of the payphone-specific 
coding digit requirements.

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 7, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rose Crellin or Greg Lipscomb, Formal 
Complaints and Information Branch, Enforcement Division, Common Carrier 
Bureau. (202) 418-0960.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A toll-free call transmitted by a local 
exchange carrier (LEC) to an interexchange carrier (IXC) carries with 
it billing information codes, called automatic number identification 
(ANI), supplied by the LEC that assist the IXC in properly billing the 
call. Currently, however, not all payphone calls carry the payphone-
specific coding digits necessary to identify the calls as payphone 
calls, making per-call tracking and blocking more difficult.
    In the Payphone Orders,<SUP>1</SUP> we imposed a requirement that 
LECs provide payphone-specific coding digits to payphone service 
providers (PSPs), and that PSPs provide those digits from their 
payphones before the PSPs can receive per-call compensation from IXCs 
for subscriber 800 and access code calls.<SUP>2</SUP> In the Order on 
Reconsideration, we clarified that, to be eligible for per-call 
compensation beginning October 7, 1997, payphones are required to 
transmit specific payphone coding digits as a part of their ANI, which 
will assist in identifying payphones to compensation 
payers.<SUP>3</SUP> Each payphone must transmit coding digits that 
specifically identify it as a payphone, and not merely as a restricted 
line.<SUP>4</SUP> We also clarified that by October 7, 1997, LECs must 
make available to PSPs, on a tariffed basis, such coding digits as a 
part of the ANI for each payphone.
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    \1\ Implementation of the Pay Telephone Reclassification and 
Compensation Provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, CC 
Docket No. 96-128, Report and Order, 61 FR 52307 (October 7, 1996), 
11 FCC Rcd 20,541 (1996), (``Report and Order''); Order on 
Reconsideration, 61 FR 65341 (December 12, 1996), 11 FCC Rcd 21,233 
(1996)(''Order on Reconsideration'') (together the ``Payphone 
Orders'').
    \2\ See Report and Order, 11 FCC Rcd at 20,591, paras. 98-99; 
Order on Reconsideration, 11 FCC Rcd at 21265-66, para. 64, and 
21,278-80, paras. 93-99.
    \3\ See Order on Reconsideration, 11 FCC Rcd at 21265-66, para. 
64, and 21,278-80, paras. 93-99.
    \4\ See id.
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    We have received three requests for a waiver of the payphone-
specific coding digit requirements.<SUP>5</SUP> Meanwhile, we have 
granted, on our own motion, pursuant to Sec. 1.3 of our rules, a 
limited waiver, until March 9, 1998, of the payphone-specific coding 
requirement for those LECs and PSPs not yet able to provide 
transmission of such digits. Those LECs and PSPs that are able to 
transmit the required coding digits by October 7, 1997, remain 
obligated to do so. Similarly, the remaining LECs and PSPs are 
obligated to transmit the required coding digits as soon as they are 
technically capable, but in any event no later than March 9, 1998.
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    \5\ Requests were received from the United States Telephone 
Association (USTA), the LEC ANI Coalition and TDS Communications 
Corporation. Those petitions have been placed on public notice for 
comments. See DA 97-2214, Pleading Cycle Established for Petitions 
to Waive Payphone Coding Digits Requirements, October 20, 1997.
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    During the period between October 7, 1997, and March 9, 1998, 
payphones appearing on the LEC-provided lists of payphones will be 
eligible for per-call compensation even if they do not transmit 
payphone-specific codes. This waiver of the requirements applicable to 
LECs and PSPs will provide LECs, IXCs, and PSPs with additional time 
that the record indicates is necessary to implement the procedures 
needed to transmit payphone-specific coding digits, without further 
delaying the payment of per-call compensation required by section 276 
of the Act.<SUP>6</SUP>
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    \6\ This waiver does not change the obligations of LECs pursuant 
to our requirements in Policies and Rules Concerning Operator 
Service Access and Pay Telephone Compensation, Third Report and 
Order, CC Docket No. 91-35, 61 FR 26466 (May 28, 1996), 11 FCC Rcd 
17,021 (1996).

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[[Page 60035]]

    We also include LECs that have non-equal-access switches in the 
general coverage of this waiver. We do not address in this order the 
special problems presented by non-equal-access switches that were 
raised in the USTA Petition.<SUP>7</SUP> We will be addressing in a 
separate order the issues raised by parties regarding the provision of 
payphone-specific coding digits by non-equal-access switches.
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    \7\ USTA Petition at 9, 11.
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    This waiver is effective immediately in order to ensure that all 
PSPs receive per-call compensation effective October 7, 1997, as 
required by the Payphones Orders.
    This waiver is appropriate because special circumstances warrant a 
deviation from the general rule, and such a deviation will serve the 
public interest.<SUP>8</SUP> The special circumstances are that 
transmission of payphone-specific coding digits is not yet ready for 
implementation for certain payphones. The industry is, however, working 
on an expeditious resolution of this situation. The public interest is 
served by this waiver because it allows the Commission to move forward 
in implementing the statutory requirement <SUP>9</SUP> that PSPs 
receive fair compensation for calls placed from their payphones. 
Refusal to waive this requirement would lead to the inequitable result 
that many payphone providers, particularly independent providers who do 
not control the network modifications necessary to permit payphone-
specific coding digits to be transmitted, would be denied any 
compensation while implementation issues are being resolved by the 
industry. This limited waiver, moreover, will not significantly harm 
any parties. The unavailability of these coding digits, for instance, 
will not preclude IXCs from identifying payphone calls for the purpose 
of determining the number of calls for which compensation is owned. Nor 
will the waiver interefere with the possibly sixty percent of payphones 
that currently are able to transmit payphone-specific coding digits.
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    \8\ WAIT Radio v. FCC, 418 F.2d 1153, 1159 (D.C. Cir. 1969).
    \9\ 47 U.S.C. 276(b)(A).
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    Accordingly, pursuant to authority contained in sections 1, 4, 201-
205, 218, 226, and 276 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 
47 U.S.C. 151, 154, 201-205, 218, 226, and 276, and Secs. 0.91, 0.291 
and 1.3 of the Commission's rules, 47 CFR 0.91, 0.291 and 1.3, it is 
ordered on the Commission's own motion that the time before payphone-
specific coding digits are required for per-call compensation is 
extended until March 9, 1998, to the extent described herein.
    It is further ordered that this order is effective upon release 
thereof, and that the waiver included in this order is effective 
October 7, 1997.

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 64

    Communications common carriers, Operator service access, Payphone 
compensation, Telephone.

Federal Communications Commission.
A. Richard Metzger, Jr.,
Acting Chief, Common Carrier Bureau.
[FR Doc. 97-29305 Filed 11-5-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P