Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 92 /Wednesday, May 13, 1998 /Rules and Regulations 26495

1 Implementation of the Pay Telephone

Reclassification and Compensation Provisions of

the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Memorandum

Opinion and Order, DA 98–642 (rel. Apr. 3, 1998)

(‘‘Per-phone Compensation Waiver Order’’).

2 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) (‘‘Report and Order’’); Order on

Reconsideration, 61 FR 65341 (December 12, 1996)

(‘‘Order on Reconsideration’’) (together the

‘‘Payphone Orders’’). The Payphone Orders were

affirmed in part and vacated in part. See Illinois

Public Telecomm. Ass’n v. FCC, 117 F.3d 555 (D.C.

Cir. 1997) (‘‘Illinois Public Telecomm.’’); see also

Second Report and Order, 13 FCC Rcd 1778 (1997)

(‘‘Second Report and Order’’), pets. for recon.

pending, review pending, MCI Telecomm. Corp. v.

FCC, D.C. Circuit No. 97–1675 (filed Nov. 7, 1997);

Sprint Corp. v. FCC, D.C. Circuit No. 97–1685 (filed

Nov. 13, 1997); Personal Communications Industry

Association v. FCC, D.C. Circuit No. 97–1709 (filed

Dec. 1, 1997); Illinois Public Telecommunications

Association v. FCC, D.C. Circuit No. 97–1713 (filed

Dec. 3, 1997).

3Payphone-specific coding digits provide a

method for LECs to transmit, with the automatic

number identification (ANI), information (coding

number or digits) identifying a call as having been

placed specifically from a payphone. Order on

Reconsideration, 11 FCC Rcd 21,265–66, para. 64.

See Implementation of the Pay Telephone

Reclassification and Compensation Provisions of

the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Memorandum

Opinion and Order, CC Docket No. 96–128, DA 98–

481 (rel. Mar. 9, 1998) 63 FR 20534 (April 27, 1998)

(‘‘Bureau Coding Digit Waiver Order’’).

4For purposes of paying compensation for

compensable calls and other associated obligations,

such as tracking calls, we note that the term ‘‘IXC’’

includes an LEC when it provides interstate,

intraLATA toll service. See Report and Order, 61 FR

52307 (October 7, 1996); Order on Reconsideration,

11 FCC Rcd at 21,270, paras. 74–75 & 21,278, para.

92. Carriers required to pay per-call compensation

pursuant to the Payphone Orders also are referred

to as ‘‘payors’’ in this order.

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Dated: May 8, 1998.

Kenneth L. Klothen,

General Counsel.

[FR Doc. 98–12650 Filed 5–12–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6050–28–P

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS

COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 69

[CC Docket 96–128; DA 98–701]

Implementation of the Pay Telephone

Reclassification and Compensation

Provisions of the Telecommunications

Act of 1996; AT&T Request for Limited

Waiver of the Per-Call Compensation

Obligation

AGENCY: Federal Communications

Commission.

ACTION: Final rule; clarification and

waivers.

SUMMARY: The Common Carrier Bureau

adopted an Order (‘‘Order’’), which

clarifies certain requirements set forth

in the Per-phone Compensation Waiver

Order. The Order clarifies the following:

the data to be used for the payment of

payphone compensation for the fourth

quarter of 1997 and first quarter of 1998

for payphones that are not capable of

providing payphone-specific coding

digits; the method for allocating among

payors the payphone compensation

requirements for payphones served by

non-equal access switches; and the

eligibility of payphones on automatic

number identification (‘‘ANI’’) lists.

DATES: Effective April 10, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rose

Crellin, Formal Complaints and

Investigations Branch, Enforcement

Division, Common Carrier Bureau, (202)

418–0960.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a

summary of the Bureau’s Order in CC

Docket No. 96–128 [DA 98–701],

adopted on April 10, 1998, and released

on April 10, 1998. The full text of the

Order is available for inspection and

copying during normal business hours

in the FCC Reference Center, Room 239,

1919 M Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.

The complete text of this decision also

may be purchased from the

Commission’s duplicating contractor,

International Transcription Services,

1231 20th Street, N.W., Washington,

D.C. 20036.

SUMMARY OF ORDER

Introduction

1. In the Order, the Bureau clarifies

certain requirements set forth in the Perphone Compensation Waiver Order,1

published elsewhere in this issue of the

Federal Register, which was adopted on

April 3, 1998, by the Common Carrier

Bureau (‘‘Bureau’’). The Per-phone

Compensation Waiver Order granted

interexchange carriers (‘‘IXCs’’) a

limited waiver of the payphone

compensation requirements set forth in

the Payphone Orders 2 to enable IXCs to

pay to payphone service providers

(‘‘PSPs’’) per-phone instead of per-call

compensation for subscriber 800 and

access code calls originated from

payphones when payphone-specific

coding digits 3 are not available from

those payphones. The Bureau’s Order

clarifies the following: (1) The data to be

used for the payment of payphone

compensation for the fourth quarter of

1997 and first quarter of 1998 for

payphones that are not capable of

providing payphone-specific coding

digits; (2) the method for allocating

among payors the payphone

compensation requirements for

payphones served by non-equal access

switches; and (3) the eligibility of

payphones on automatic number

identification (‘‘ANI’’) lists.

II. Background

2. In the Per-phone Compensation

Waiver Order, the Bureau concluded

that the waiver granted therein to allow

IXCs to pay per-phone compensation

when payphone-specific coding digits

are not available from a payphone is

necessary to ensure that PSPs receive

fair compensation while local exchange

carriers (‘‘LECs’’), PSPs, and IXCs

transition to providing and receiving

payphone-specific coding digits to

identify calls from payphones.

3. Previously, the Bureau had adopted

the Bureau Coding Digit Waiver Order

clarifying the payphone-specific coding

digit requirements set forth in the

Payphone Orders and granting limited

waivers of the requirement that LECs

provide payphone-specific-coding digits

to PSPs, and that PSPs provide

payphone-specific coding digits from

their payphones to IXCs, before PSPs

can receive per-call compensation from

IXCs for subscriber 800 and access code

calls. The Bureau explained in the Perphone Compensation Waiver Order that

the order serves as a companion order

to the Bureau Coding Digit Waiver

Order, because in the Per-phone

Compensation Waiver Order, the Bureau

granted IXCs 4 a waiver of the per-call

compensation requirement so they may

pay per-phone instead of per-call
26496 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 92 /Wednesday, May 13, 1998 /Rules and Regulations

5 Implementation of the Pay Telephone

Reclassification and Compensation Provisions of

the Telecommunications Act of 1996, 62 FR 58659,

(October 30, 1997) (‘‘Bureau Waiver Order’’).

6The LEC Coalition data indicates the following

percentage allocation: (1) AT&T: 37.08%; (2) MCI:

25.33%; (3) WorldCom: 12.17%; (4) Sprint: 10.76%;

(5) LCI: 2.83%; (6) Frontier: 2.75%; (7) BOC

weighted average: 2.19%; (8) Allnet Dial 1 Service:

1.14%; (9) Cable & Wireless: 0.95%; (10) Switched

Services: 0.63%. Id.

7Bureau Waiver Order, 12 FCC Rcd at 16,390–91,

paras. 9–14.

compensation for the payphones for

which the Bureau granted waivers in the

Bureau Waiver Order 5 and the Bureau

Coding Digit Waiver Order.

III. Discussion

A. Payphone Compensation Payments

4. The Bureau Coding Digit Waiver

Order required that payments for

payphone compensation be remitted at

least on a quarterly basis. That order

required that the payment for the

October 1997 through December 31,

1997 period be paid no later than April

1, 1998. The Bureau stated in the Perphone Waiver Order that because some

IXCs will have to obtain additional

information and calculate their perphone compensation amounts, these

IXCs may need additional time to make

the payments to PSPs for the October

1997 through December 31, 1997 period

for payphone compensation. Thus, the

order stated that IXCs may make this

payment no later than April 30, 1998,

but must include additional interest for

the period after April 1, 1998, at the rate

of 11.25 percent simple interest per

year, if the payment was not made by

April 1, 1998.

5. In the Per-phone Waiver Order, the

Bureau required that pursuant to the

waiver granted therein, with the

exception of the compensation method

for those payphones that are able to

provide payphone-specific coding

digits, IXCs must use call volume

information obtained from October 1997

through March 31, 1998 (the ‘‘sample

period’’), to establish average subscriber

800 and access code call volumes perphone to compensate PSPs for calls

originated from their payphones during

the fourth quarter of 1997 and the first

quarter of 1998 (from October 7, 1997

through March 31, 1998). In the Order,

the Bureau clarifies that if calculating

the average call volumes using the sixmonth ‘‘sample period’’ of data will

delay payment for the fourth quarter of

1997 beyond the deadline set forth in

that order, IXCs must compensate PSPs

for the fourth quarter of 1997 based on

data from the fourth quarter of 1997,

and compensate PSPs for the first

quarter of 1998 based on data from the

first quarter of 1998 using the same

methodology specified in the Per-phone

Waiver Order but revised to

accommodate a three-month rather than

a six-month period of call volume and

payphone information.

B. Payphone Compensation for

Payphones Served by Non-Equal Access

Switches

6. In the Per-phone Waiver Order, the

Bureau stated that payphones served by

non-equal access switches must be

compensated for 16 calls per-phone per

month, until payphone-specific coding

digits are available for those payphones.

Because the number of payphones on

non-equal access switches and the

number of calls for which such

payphones should be compensated is

small, the Bureau finds it is appropriate

to allocate compensation obligations for

these payphones among payors in a

different manner than other payphones.

Therefore, per-phone compensation for

PSP payphones served by non-equal

access switches will be based on call

distribution data submitted to the

Commission by the LEC Coalition. The

LEC Coalition provided data from three

Bell Operating Companies (‘‘BOCs’’) in

an aggregated form illustrating the

average calls per-phone per month, and

the percentage of average calls per

month of the total calls received by each

payor. The Bureau finds, however,

compensation due to PSP payphones

served by non-equal access switches

should be allocated among the top ten

carriers receiving the highest amount of

subscriber 800 and access code calls as

indicated by the LEC Coalition data,

because the number of calls for which

compensation is due is so small. Were

the Bureau to require all carriers to

compensate payphones served by nonequal access switches, many carriers

would be forced to compensate PSPs for

mere fractions of calls.

7. Therefore, to compensate PSPs for

payphones served by non-equal access

switches, each IXC listed in the Order

will multiply its percentage of average

calls per month total as stated in the

LEC Coalition data by 16 calls perphone per month.6 That number is the

average number of calls for which that

carrier must compensate the PSP for

payphones served by non-equal access

switches. That number will then be

multiplied by three, to determine the

quarterly call volume, and then by

$0.284 to determine the amount owed.

8. The Bureau finds that the LEC

Coalition data is an appropriate basis

upon which to allocate compensation

for payphones served by non-equal

access switches because the

compensation due is small.

Notwithstanding the Bureau’s decision

in the Per-phone Waiver Order that this

data is not appropriate to assess

compensation obligations for all

payphones, here this data is

representative of the number of

compensable calls made from

payphones on non-equal access

switches and is appropriate for

allocating each carrier’s share of

compensation obligations. Therefore,

the concerns raised in reference to using

this data as a compensation method for

all payphones are not present here.

C. Payphones on the ANI List

9. In the Per-phone Waiver Order, the

Bureau stated that payphones can

receive compensation only for those

months that they were in service. The

Bureau Waiver Order stated that

payphones appearing on the LECprovided lists of payphones are eligible

for per-call compensation even if they

do not transmit payphone-specific

coding digits. The Bureau clarifies that

as stated in the Bureau Waiver Order,

for payphones that do not provide

payphone-specific coding digits, payors

must look to the ANI lists to determine

which payphones 7 are eligible for

compensation. Prior to the Bureau

Coding Digit Waiver Order, LECs were

required to provide ANI lists on a

quarterly basis. That order required that

LECs make available on request monthly

ANI lists. Thus, for the fourth quarter of

1997 and the first quarter of 1998,

payors must use quarterly ANI lists.

Thereafter, payors must use the monthly

ANI lists that payors can obtain from

LECs. If there are disputes between IXCs

and PSPs regarding whether certain

payphones were in service during a

specific period even if they are on the

ANI lists, such disputes should not be

a basis for delay of payphone

compensation payments.

IV. Conclusion and Ordering Clauses

10. The Bureau concluded in the

Order that the clarifications to the Perphone Compensation Waiver Order are

in the public interest, because they will

further the goals of Section 276 of the

Act, and that PSPs should be

compensated for each and every

completed call and will ease the

transition to per-call compensation.

11. 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 the authority

delegated by §§ 0.91 and 0.291 of the
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 92 /Wednesday, May 13, 1998 /Rules and Regulations 26497

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) (‘‘Report and Order’’); Order on

Reconsideration, 61 FR 65341 (December 12, 1996),

(‘‘Order on Reconsideration’’) (together the

‘‘Payphone Orders’’). The Payphone Orders were

affirmed in part and vacated in part. See Illinois

Public Telecomm. Ass’n v. FCC, 117 F.3d 555 (D.C.

Cir. 1997) (‘‘Illinois Public Telecomm.’’). See also

Second Report and Order, 13 FCC Rcd 1778 (1997)

(‘‘Second Report and Order’’), pets. for recon.

pending, review pending, MCI Telecomm. Corp. v.

FCC, D.C. Circuit No. 97–1675 (filed November 7,

1997); Sprint Corp. v. FCC, D.C. Circuit No. 97–

1685 (filed November 13, 1997); Personal

Communications Industry Association v. FCC, D.C.

Circuit No. 97–1709 (filed December 1, 1997);

Illinois Public Telecommunications Association v.

FCC, D.C. Circuit No. 97–1713 (filed December 3,

1997).

2See Bureau Coding Digit Waiver Order,

Memorandum Opinion and Order, CC Docket No.

96–128, DA 98–481 at paras. 19–20 (rel. March 9,

1998), 63 FR 20534 (April 27, 1998).

3 Implementation of the Pay Telephone

Reclassification and Compensation Provisions of

the Telecommunications Act of 1996, 62 FR 58659

(October 30, 1997), (Bureau Waiver Order).

4This waiver order relies on the record

established for the Bureau Coding Digit Waiver

Order 63 FR 20534 (April 27, 1998), and ex partes

received subsequent to the release of that order.

Pleading Cycle Established for Petitions to Waive

Payphone Coding Digits, Public Notice, 12 FCC Rcd

17,340 (1997) (Public Notice).

Commission’s rules, 47 C.F.R. 0.91,

0.291, the policies and requirements set

forth in the payphone proceeding and

the Per-phone Compensation Waiver

Order are clarified.

Federal Communications Commission.

Robert W. Spangler,

Acting Chief, Enforcement Division, Common

Carrier Bureau.

[FR Doc. 98–12346 Filed 5–12–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–U

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS

COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 69

[CC Docket 96–128; DA 98–642]

Implementation of the Pay Telephone

Reclassification and Compensation

Provisions of the Telecommunications

Act of 1996; AT&T Request for Limited

Waiver of the Per-Call Compensation

Obligation

AGENCY: Federal Communications

Commission.

ACTION: Final rule; clarification and

waivers

SUMMARY: The Common Carrier Bureau

adopted a Memorandum Opinion and

Order (‘‘Order’’), which grants

interexchange carriers (‘‘IXCs’’) a waiver

of the payphone compensation

requirements of the Payphone Orders to

enable them to pay to payphone service

providers (‘‘PSPs’’) per-phone instead of

per-call compensation for subscriber

800 and access code calls from

payphones when payphone-specific

coding digits are not available from

those payphones. The Order also serves

as a companion to the Bureau Coding

Digit Waiver Order, because in the Order

the Bureau grants IXCs a waiver of the

per-call compensation requirement so

they may pay per-phone instead of percall compensation for the payphones for

which the Bureau granted waivers in the

Bureau Waiver Order and the Bureau

Coding Digit Waiver Order.

DATES: Effective April 3, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rose

Crellin, Formal Complaints and

Investigations Branch, Enforcement

Division, Common Carrier Bureau, (202)

418–0960.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a

summary of the Bureau’s Memorandum

Opinion and Order in CC Docket No.

96–128 [DA 98–642], adopted on April

3, 1998, and released on April 3, 1998.

The full text of the Memorandum

Opinion and Order (‘‘Order’’) is

available for inspection and copying

during normal business hours in the

FCC Reference Center, Room 239, 1919

M Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. The

complete text of this decision also may

be purchased from the Commission’s

duplicating contractor, International

Transcription Services, 1231 20th

Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

I. Introduction

1. In the Order, the Common Carrier

Bureau (‘‘Bureau’’) grants interexchange

carriers (‘‘IXCs’’) a waiver of the

payphone compensation requirements

of the Payphone Orders 1 to enable them

to pay to payphone service providers

(‘‘PSPs’’) per-phone instead of per-call

compensation for subscriber 800 and

access code calls from payphones when

payphone-specific coding digits are not

available from those payphones. On

March 9, 1998, the Bureau adopted a

Memorandum Opinion and Order

clarifying the payphone-specific coding

digit requirements set forth in the

Payphone Orders and granting limited

waivers of the requirement that local

exchange carriers (‘‘LECs’’) provide

payphone-specific-coding digits to

PSPs, and that PSPs provide coding

digits from their payphones to IXCs,

before PSPs can receive per-call

compensation from IXCs for subscriber

800 and access code calls.2 The Order

serves as a companion to the Bureau

Coding Digit Waiver Order, because in

the order the Bureau grants IXCs a

waiver of the per-call compensation

requirement so they may pay per-phone

instead of per-call compensation for the

payphones for which the Bureau

granted waivers in the Bureau Waiver

Order 3 and the Bureau Coding Digit

Waiver Order.4

2. Moreover, in the Order, the Bureau

addresses a letter filed by AT&T

Corporation (‘‘AT&T’’) requesting that

AT&T, and other similarly situated

IXCs, receive a waiver to pay per-phone

rather than per-call compensation when

payphone-specific coding digits are not

available for a payphone. The Order

grants in part AT&T’s request that AT&T

and other similarly situated IXCs be

permitted to compensate PSPs on a perphone basis, where payphone-specific

coding digits are not available. The

Order concludes that the waiver granted

therein, which allows IXCs to pay perphone compensation when payphonespecific coding digits are not available

from a payphone, is necessary to ensure

that PSPs receive fair compensation

while LECs, PSPs, and IXCs transition to

providing and receiving payphonespecific coding digits to identify calls

from payphones. In the Order, the

Bureau also concludes that granting the

waiver and allowing IXCs to pay perphone instead of per-call compensation

where payphone-specific coding digits

are not available is in the public

interest.

3. The Bureau Coding Digit Waiver

Order required that payments be

remitted at least on a quarterly basis.

That order required that the payment for

the October 1997 through December 31,

1997 period must be paid no later than

April 1, 1998. In the Order, however,

the Bureau notes that the waiver granted

therein will require some IXCs to obtain

additional information and calculate

their per-phone compensation amounts,

and that these IXCs may need additional

time to make the payments to PSPs for

the October 1997 through December 31,

1997 period for payphone

compensation. Thus, the Bureau stated

that IXCs may make this payment no

later than April 30, 1998, but must

include additional interest for the

period after April 1, 1998, at the rate of

11.25 percent per year, if the payment

is not made by April 1, 1998.

4. The waiver granted in the Order is

effective on April 3, 1998, to ensure that

all PSPs continue to receive

compensation, as required by the

Payphone Orders and the Second Report

and Order. Without this waiver, many