Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 82 / Friday, April 27, 2001 / Rules and Regulations 21105

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance No.

83.100, ‘‘Flood Insurance’’)

Dated: April 18, 2001.

Margaret E. Lawless,

Acting Executive Associate Director for

Mitigation.

[FR Doc. 01–10486 Filed 4–26–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6718–04–P

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS

COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 64

[CC Docket No. 96–128; FCC 01–109]

The Pay Telephone Reclassification

and Compensation Provisions of The

Telecommunications Act of 1996,

RBOC/GTE/SNET Payphone Coalition

Petition for Clarification

AGENCY: Federal Communications

Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: In this document, the Federal

Communications Commission (FCC or

Commission) modified the

Commission’s rules regarding per-call

compensation for payphone calls to

better ensure that payphone service

providers (PSPs) are fairly compensated

for all completed, coinless calls made

from payphones. The Commission

revised its rules to address the difficulty

that PSPs face in obtaining

compensation for coinless calls placed

from payphones that involve a switchbased telecommunications reseller in

the call path. Given the difficulty of

determining which entity is responsible

for compensating the PSP for such calls

(i.e., the switch-based reseller or the

interexchange carrier that routes calls to

the switch-based reseller), the

Commission modified its rules to

require the first underlying facilitiesbased interexchange carrier (IXC) to

whom the local exchange carrier (LEC)

directly delivers such calls to

compensate the PSP for the completed

coinless calls.

DATES: Effective April 27, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Federal Communications

Commission, Secretary, 445 12th Street,

SW., Room TW–B204F, Washington, DC

20554.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Marty Schwimmer (202) 418–2320, fax

(202) 418–2345, TTY (202) 418–0484, or

mschwimm@fcc.gov. The address is:

Network Services Division, Common

Carrier Bureau, Federal

Communications Commission, The

Portals, 445 12th Street, SW., Suite 6–

A320, Washington, DC 20554.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a

summary of the Commission’s Second

Order on Reconsideration in CC Docket

No. 96–128, FCC 01–109, in the matter

of The Pay Telephone Reclassification

and Compensation Provisions of the

Telecommunications Act of 1996,

RBOC/GTE/SNET Payphone Coalition

Petition for Clarification, adopted March

28, 2001, and released April 5, 2001.

The full text of the item is available for

inspection and copying during the

weekday hours of 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in

the Commission’s Reference Center,

Room CY–A257, 445 12th Street, SW.,

Washington, DC 20554, or copies may

be purchased from the Commission’s

duplicating contractor, ITS, Inc., 445

12th Street, SW., Suite CY–B400,

Washington, DC 20554, phone (202)

857–3800. This Order contains no new

or modified information collections

subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act

of 1995, Public Law 104–13.

Synopsis of the Second Order on

Reconsideration

In implementing Section 276 of the

Act—which requires the Commission to

prescribe regulations ensuring that all

PSPs are fairly compensated for every

completed intrastate and interstate call,

including coinless ‘‘access code’’ or

‘‘subscriber 800’’ calls dialed from their

payphones—the Commission adopted

several payphone compensation rules in

its First Payphone Order, 61 FR 52309,

October 7, 1996. In the Payphone Order

On Reconsideration, 61 FR 65341,

December 12, 1996, the Commission

revised the payphone compensation

responsibilities for calls involving

switch-based resellers. In 1998, the

Common Carrier Bureau released the

Coding Digit Waiver Order, 63 FR

26497, May 13, 1998, further clarifying

the Payphone Order on

Reconsideration. In that Order, the

Common Carrier Bureau clarified

switch-based reseller responsibilities for

paying per-call compensation in order

to clarify IXC obligations to disclose

information about their switch-based

resellers. The purpose of that order was

to help ensure that PSPs knew from

whom to expect compensation for

coinless calls, to avoid the problem of

entities disclaiming responsibility for

such calls. Finally, in a recent order, the

Commission concluded that the

Payphone Order on Reconsideration

and the Common Carrier Bureau’s

Coding Digit Waiver Order placed the

tracking and compensation obligations

squarely on facilities-based carriers,

including facilities-based resellers. We

found that, despite of our efforts to

ensure that PSPs are compensated for

coinless calls in instances in which

switch-based resellers are involved in

routing coinless calls from payphones to

end-users, there remained uncertainty

in the market, and PSPs have been

frustrated in their efforts to receive

compensation for certain coinless calls.

In this Second Order on

Reconsideration, we require the first

facilities-based interexchange carrier to

which a LEC routes a compensable

coinless payphone call to: (1)

Compensate the PSP for completed calls

at a mutually agreeable rate; (2) track or

arrange for tracking of the call to

determine whether it is completed and

therefore compensable; and (3) provide

to the PSP a statement of the number of

coinless calls it receives from each of

that PSP’s payphones. We also require

each reseller or debit card customer

whose number is dialed on a coinless

basis to reimburse the first facilitiesbased carrier for the amount paid by

that carrier to the PSP and for that

carrier’s cost of tracking the call and

providing such information to the PSP.

We also encourage PSPs and switchbased resellers to enter into private

contractual arrangements with each

other for direct payment of

compensation to PSPs.

We decline to initiate a further

rulemaking proceeding, at this time,

which would propose that the carrier

responsible for compensation is the

entity identified by the Carrier

Identification Code (CIC) used to route

the call. Most commenters generally

opposed the proposal. For the purpose

of determining payphone compensation

responsibilities, the proposal would not

likely be an improvement over the

existing rules as clarified in this Second

Order on Reconsideration. Even if all

carriers had CICs, they would still need

to look to subsequent carriers in the

routing sequence for payphone call

completion information to fulfill their

compensation responsibilities. By

ensuring that PSPs are consistently able

to obtain per call compensation from a

readily identifiable, responsible carrier,

the first facilities-based interexchange

carrier, we resolve the issues before us

without a further rulemaking on CICs at

this time.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act,

5 U.S.C. 605(b), there will not be a

significant economic impact on a

substantial number of small business

entities resulting from this Second

Order on Reconsideration. Although the

revised rules provide that the first

underlying facilities-based

interexchange carrier is initially

responsible for payment and tracking of

all compensable payphone calls, the

21106 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 82 / Friday, April 27, 2001 / Rules and Regulations

rules also provide that the first

underlying facilities-based

interexchange carrier may then obtain

reimbursement from any reseller

ultimately responsible for the

compensation. Thus, although this

Second Order on Reconsideration

modifies the mechanism governing how

PSPs obtain compensation, the rules do

not significantly affect which carrier is

ultimately responsible for per-call

compensation to PSPs.

Ordering Clauses

Pursuant to the authority contained in

Sections 1, 4(i), 4(j), and 276 of the

Communications Act of 1934, as

amended, 47 U.S.C. 151, 154(i), 154(j),

and 276, that the RBOC/GTE/SNET

Payphone Coalition Petition for

Clarification is GRANTED IN PART

AND DENIED IN PART, as described in

this Second Order on Reconsideration.

Part 64 of the Commission’s rules, 47

CFR Part 64, is amended by revising

§§ 64.1300(a), 64.1310(a), and

64.1310(b) as set forth in the rule

changes.

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 64

Communications common carriers,

Individuals with disabilities, Reporting

and recordkeeping requirements,

Telegraph, Telephone.

Federal Communications Commission.

Magalie Roman Salas,

Secretary.

Rule Changes

For the reasons discussed in the

preamble, the Federal Communications

Commission amends 47 CFR Part 64 as

follows:

PART 64—MISCELLANEOUS RULES

RELATING TO COMMON CARRIERS

1. The authority citation for part 64

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 47 U.S.C. 154, 47 U.S.C. 225, 47

U.S.C. 251(e)(1).151, 154, 201, 202, 205, 218–

220, 254, 302, 303, and 337 unless otherwise

noted. Interpret or apply sections 201, 218,

225, 226, 227, 229, 332, 48 Stat. 1070, as

amended. 47 U.S.C. 201–204, 208, 225, 226,

227, 229, 332, 501 and 503 unless otherwise

noted.

2. Section 64.1300 is amended by

revising paragraph (a) to read as follows:

§ 64.1300 Payphone compensation

obligation.

(a) Except as provided herein, the first

facilities-based interexchange carrier to

which a completed coinless access code

or subscriber toll-free payphone call is

delivered by the local exchange carrier

shall compensate the payphone service

provider for the call at a rate agreed

upon by the parties by contract.

* * * * *

3. Section 64.1310 is amended by

revising paragraphs (a) and (b) to read

as follows:

§ 64.1310 Payphone compensation

payment procedures.

(a) It is the responsibility of the first

facilities-based interexchange carrier to

which a compensable coinless access

code or subscriber toll-free payphone

call is delivered by the local exchange

carrier to track, or arrange for the

tracking of, each such call so that it may

accurately compute the compensation

required by § 64.1300(a). The first

facilities-based interexchange carrier to

which a compensable coinless

payphone call is delivered by the local

exchange carrier must also send back to

each payphone service provider at the

time dial around compensation is due to

be paid a statement in computer

readable format indicating the toll-free

and access code numbers that the LEC

has delivered to the carrier, and the

volume of calls for each toll-free and

access number each carrier has received

from each of that payphone service

provider’s payphones, unless the

payphone service provider agrees to

other arrangements.

(b) The first facilities-based

interexchange carrier to which a

compensable coinless payphone call is

delivered by the local exchange carrier

may obtain reimbursement from its

reseller and debit card customers for the

compensation amounts paid to

payphone service providers for calls

carried on their account and for the cost

of tracking compensable calls. Facilitiesbased carriers and resellers may

establish or continue any other

arrangements that they have with

payphone service providers for the

billing and collection of compensation

for calls subject to § 64.1300(a), if the

involved payphone service providers so

agree.

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 01–10493 Filed 4–26–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–U