Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 1 / Friday, January 2, 1998 / Notices 79

reasons set forth below, the Commission

concludes that BellSouth has not yet

demonstrated by a preponderance of the

evidence that it has fully implemented

the competitive checklist. As a

preliminary matter, the Commission

concludes that a BOC ‘‘generally offers’’

a checklist item if it makes the checklist

item available as both a legal and a

practical matter.

5. With respect to the first checklist

item addressed, the Commission

concludes, consistent with the

Department of Justice’s finding, that

BellSouth has failed to demonstrate by

a preponderance of the evidence that it

provides nondiscriminatory access to all

of the operations support systems (OSS)

functions provided to competing

carriers, as required by the competitive

checklist. First, the Commission

describes BellSouth’s OSS. Second, the

Commission outlines its general

approach to analyzing the adequacy of

a BOC’s OSS. Third, the Commission

analyzes the evidence concerning

competing carriers’ access to OSS

functions for resale services and

unbundled network elements. Based on

the evidence in the record, the

Commission concludes that BellSouth

has not demonstrated that the access to

certain OSS functions that it provides to

competing carriers for pre-ordering,

ordering, and provisioning of resale

services and pre-ordering of unbundled

network elements is equivalent to the

access it provides to itself. Finally, in

order to provide additional guidance,

the Commission highlights a number of

other OSS-related issues that are of

concern to the Commission.

6. The next checklist item the

Commission addresses is access to

unbundled network elements. The

Commission concludes that BellSouth

does not meet this checklist item

because it has not demonstrated by a

preponderance of the evidence that it

can make available, as a legal and

practical matter, access to unbundled

network elements in a manner that

allows competing carriers to recombine

them. The Commission concludes that

the statement of generally available

terms (SGAT) is deficient because it

fails to include sufficiently detailed

terms and conditions for access to

network elements for the purposes of

recombining them. The Commission

finds that the SGAT lacks crucial details

such as which elements will be

separated and which will be provided in

combination, and how and at what cost.

The Commission concludes that, in

particular, BellSouth has failed to

demonstrate that it can provide access

to such elements through the one

method that it has identified for such

access—collocation. The Commission

finds that BellSouth fails to demonstrate

that it offers or can timely provide

collocation for the purposes of

recombining unbundled network

elements. The Commission finds it

significant that BellSouth’s SGAT does

not commit to any provisioning

intervals for implementing collocation

requests. The Commission further finds

that the record indicates that, in

practice, it is taking BellSouth a long

time to implement collocation requests.

The Commission further finds that

BellSouth has made no showing that

there has been actual commercial usage

or testing of collocation anywhere in its

region for the purpose of recombining

UNEs. Thus, the Commission

concludes, BellSouth has not

demonstrated that it can timely deliver

unbundled network elements to

collocation spaces for combining, or that

the resulting provision of these

combined elements will be at an

acceptable level of quality.

7. The Commission also addresses the

checklist item that requires incumbent

LECs to offer for resale at wholesale

rates any telecommunications service

that the carrier provides at retail, and

not to prohibit, or to impose

unreasonable or discriminatory

conditions or limitations on, the resale

of such telecommunications service.

The Commission concludes that

BellSouth does not meet this checklist

item because it refuses to offer contract

service arrangements, which are

contractual agreements made between a

carrier and a specific, typically highvolume, customer, at a wholesale

discount. The Commission concludes

that BellSouth’s argument that CSAs

should not be further discounted

because they have already been

discounted from the tariff rate has been

previously considered and rejected by

the Commission. The Commission

further finds that failure to offer CSAs

to resellers at a discount impedes

competition for large-volume customers

and thus impairs use of resale as a

vehicle for competitors to enter

BellSouth’s market.

8. The Commission also addresses the

part of the checklist item that requires

BellSouth to provide nondiscriminatory

access to 911 and E911 services. The

Commission concludes that BellSouth

has made a prima facie case that it offers

nondiscriminatory access to 911 and

E911 services. Because no commenter

has produced evidence to demonstrate

that BellSouth is not currently offering

nondiscriminatory access to 911 and

E911 services, the Commission

concludes that BellSouth satisfies this

part of the checklist item.

9. Compliance with Section 272. The

Commission concludes that BellSouth’s

inbound telemarketing script is

consistent with the Act. The

Commission concludes that a BOC,

during an inbound telephone call, may

recommend its own long distance

affiliate, as long as it

contemporaneously states that other

carriers also provide long distance

service and offers to read a list of all

available interexchange carriers in

random order.

10. Public Interest. Based on the

Commission’s conclusions that

BellSouth has not fully implemented

the competitive checklist, the

Commission need not and does not

address the issue of whether BellSouth

has demonstrated that the authorization

it seeks is consistent with the public

interest, convenience, and necessity, as

required by section 271(d)(3)(C).

Federal Communications Commission.

William F. Caton,

Acting Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–34144 Filed 12–31–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION

Sunshine Act Meeting

AGENCY: Federal Election Commission.

DATE & TIME: Tuesday, January 6, 1998

at 10:00 a.m.

PLACE: 999 E Street, N.W., Washington,

D.C.

STATUS: This meeting will be closed to

the public.

ITEMS TO BE DISCUSSED:

Compliance matters pursuant to 2

U.S.C. § 437g.

Audits conducted pursuant to 2

U.S.C. § 437g, § 438(b), and Title 26,

U.S.C.

Matters concerning participation in

civil actions or proceedings or

arbitration.

Internal personnel rules and

procedures or matters affecting a

particular employee.

DATE & TIME: Thursday, January 8, 1998

at 10:00 a.m.

PLACE: 999 E Street, N.W., Washington,

D.C. (ninth Floor).

STATUS: This meeting will be open to the

public.

ITEMS TO BE DISCUSSED:

Correction and Approval of Minutes.

Audit: San Diego Host Committee/Sail

to Victory ’96 (continued from meeting

of December 4, 1997).

Audit: Committee on Arrangements

for the 1996 Republican National
80 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 1 / Friday, January 2, 1998 / Notices

Convention (continued from meeting of

December 4, 1997).

Administrative Matters.

PERSON TO CONTACT FOR INFORMATION:

Mr. Ron Harris, Press Officer;

Telephone: (202) 219–4155.

[FR Doc. 97–34232 Filed 12–30–97; 2:41pm]

BILLING CODE 6715–01–M

FEDERAL MARITIME COMMISSION

Ocean Freight Forwarder License

Applicants

Notice is hereby given that the

following applicants have filed with the

Federal Maritime Commission

applications for licenses as ocean freight

forwarders pursuant to section 19 of the

Shipping Act of 1984 (46 U.S.C. app.

1781 and 46 CFR 510).

Persons knowing of any reason why

any of the following applicants should

not receive a license are requested to

contact the Office of Freight Forwarders,

Federal Maritime Commission,

Washington, D.C. 20573.

Marianas Steamship Agencies, Inc.,

1026 Cabras Highway,

Administration Building Annex,

Piti, Guam 96925.

Junichi Kinoshita, President

Clarence Tenorio, Vice President

Impex Cargo, Inc., 7661 NW 68 Street,

Miami, FL 33166.

Officers:

Zamir Nader, President

Martha Claudia Garcia, Vice President

Dated: December 29, 1997.

Ronald D. Murphy,

Assistant Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–34188 Filed 12–31–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6730–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

National Committee on Vital and Health

Statistics: Meeting

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory

Committee Act, the Department of

Health and Human Services announces

the following advisory committee

meeting.

Name: National Committee on Vital and

Health Statistics (NCVHS), Subcommittee on

Privacy and Confidentiality.

Times and Dates: 9 a.m.–5 p.m., January

28, 1998; 9 a.m.–5 p.m., January 29, 1998.

Place: Room 303A, Hubert H. Humphrey

Building, 200 Independence Avenue, S.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20201.

Status: Open.

Purpose: The Subcommittee will conduct

two workshops designed to gather

information, stimulate dialogue, and identify

issues on the topics of identifiability of data

(January 28) and the use of registries (January

29). The context for the discussions will be

the data needs of the health care system, the

privacy of individuals, the Secretary’s

legislative recommendations on the

confidentiality of individually-identifiable

health information, and the current

legislative efforts on health privacy.

On the first day the Subcommittee is

interested in looking at how personal health

information might be collected, stored,

maintained, and disclosed for research,

health care, quality assurance, cost

containment, law enforcement, and other

purposes so that individual identities might

be protected. The goal is to look for ways to

support important functions that rely on

personal health information without unduly

impinging on the privacy interests of

individuals.

On the second day the Subcommittee is

interested in exploring the purposes and

function of health and medical registries in

the U.S. and the extent to which they may

pose or lessen threats to the privacy and

confidentiality of individuals whose data is

included in the registry. The goal is to

identify the range or current activities that

might qualify as registries and to put more

information on the public record about the

manner in which registries collect, maintain,

and disclose personal health information.

Workshop participants are expected to

include a variety of invited public and

private sector representatives whose

expertise can contribute to addressing the

workshop topics.

Contact Person for More Information:

Substantive program information as well as

a roster of committee members may be

obtained from Judith Galloway, Division of

Data Policy, Office of the Assistant Secretary

for Planning and Evaluation, DHHS, Room

440–D, Humphrey Building, 200

Independence Avenue S.W., Washington,

D.C. 20201, telephone (202) 690–7100, or

Marjorie S. Greenberg, Executive Secretary,

NCVHS, NCHS, CDC, Room 1100,

Presidential Building, 6525 Belcrest Road,

Hyattsville, Maryland 20782, telephone 301/

436–7050. Additional information about the

full Committee is available on the NCVHS

website, where the tentative agenda for the

Subcommittee meeting will also be posted

when available: http://aspe.os.dhhs.gov/

ncvhs.

Dated: December 24, 1997.

James Scanlon,

Director, Division of Data Policy.

[FR Doc. 97–34191 Filed 12–31–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4151–04–M

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and

Families

Agency Recordkeeping/Reporting

Requirements Under Emergency

Review by the Office of Management

and Budget (OMB)

Title: Native Employment Works

(NEW) Program Plan Guidance and

Report Requirements.

OMB No.: New.

Description: The purpose of this

document is to determine whether a

Tribal plan is complete and will fulfill

its intended purpose, goals and

objectives to provide work activities.

The plan will provide an outline of how

the Tribe’s program will be

administered and operated and

instructions for reporting program

characteristics. It is also used to provide

the public with information about the

NEW program.

Respondents: States, Puerto Rico,

Guam and the District of Columbia.

Annual Burden Estimates:

Instrument Number of

respondents

Number of

responses

per respondent

Average

burden

hours per

response

Total burden hours

Program Plan .................................................................................................................... 78 1 40 3,120

Operations Report ............................................................................................................ 78 1 16 1,248

Estimated Total Annual Burden

Hours: 4,368.

Additional Information: ACF is

requesting that OMB grant a 180 day

approval for this information collection

under procedures for emergency

processing by February 17, 1998. A copy

of this information collection, with

applicable supporting documentation,

may be obtained by calling the

Administration for Children and

Families, Acting Reports Clearance

Officer, Bob Sargis at (202) 690–7275.

Comments and questions about the

information collection described above

should be directed, prior to the request

date, to the Office of Information and