67112 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 249 / Friday, December 28, 2001 / Rules and Regulations

Commission’s rules. Specifically, we

amend § 43.61 to remove the reference

to former § 64.1002. We amend § 63.24

to remove the reference to paragraph (c)

because there is no paragraph (c) in

§ 63.24. We revise the heading for

§ 63.52. Finally, we remove § 1.813. The

requirements referenced in § 1.813 are

no longer necessary.

List of Subjects

47 CFR Parts 1 and 43

Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

47 CFR Part 63

Communications common carriers.

Federal Communications Commission.

Andrew S. Fishel,

Managing Director.

Rule Changes

For the reasons discussed in the

preamble, the Federal Communications

Commission amends 47 CFR parts 1, 43,

and 63 as follows:

PART 1—PRACTICE AND

PROCEDURE

1. The authority citation for part 1

continues to read as follows:

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

155, 225, 303(r), 309 and 325(e).

§ 1.813 [Removed]

2. Remove § 1.813.

PART 43—REPORTS OF

COMMUNICATION COMMON

CARRIERS AND CERTAIN AFFILIATES

3. The authority citation for part 43

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 47 U.S.C. 154;

Telecommunications Act of 1996, Pub. L.

104–104, secs. 402(b)(2)(B), (c), 110 Stat. 56

(1996) as amended unless otherwise noted.

47 U.S.C. 211, 219, 220 as amended.

4. Section 43.61 is amended by

revising paragraph (a)(1) to read as

follows:

§ 43.61 Reports of international

telecommunications traffic.

(a) * * *

(1) The information contained in the

reports shall include actual traffic and

revenue data for each and every service

provided by a common carrier, divided

among service billed in the United

States, service billed outside the United

States, and service transiting the United

States.

* * * * *

PART 63—EXTENSION OF LINES AND

DISCONTINUANCE, REDUCTION,

OUTAGE AND IMPAIRMENT OF

SERVICE BY COMMON CARRIERS;

AND GRANTS OF RECOGNIZED

PRIVATE OPERATING AGENCY

STATUS

5. 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.

6. Section 63.24 is amended by

revising paragraph (b) to read as follows:

§ 63.24 Pro forma assignments and

transfers of control.

* * * * *

(b) A pro forma assignment or transfer

of control of an authorization to provide

international telecommunications

service is not subject to the

requirements of § 63.18. A pro forma

assignee or a carrier that is the subject

of a pro forma transfer of control is not

required to seek prior Commission

approval for the transaction. A pro

forma assignee must notify the

Commission no later than 30 days after

the assignment is consummated. The

notification may be in the form of a

letter (in duplicate to the Secretary), and

it must contain a certification that the

assignment was pro forma as defined in

paragraph (a) of this section and,

together with all previous pro forma

transactions, does not result in a change

of the carrier’s ultimate control. A single

letter may be filed for an assignment of

more than one authorization if each

authorization is identified by the file

number under which it was granted.

7. Section 63.52 is amended by

revising the section heading to read as

follows:

§ 63.52 Copies required; fees; and filing

periods for domestic authorizations.

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 01–31865 Filed 12–27–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS

COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 54

[CC Docket No. 96–45; FCC 01–350]

Federal-State Joint Board on Universal

Service; Petition of the State of Alaska

for Waiver for the Utilization of

Schools and Libraries Internet Pointof-Presence in Rural Remote Alaska

Villages Where No Local Access Exists

and Request for Declaratory Ruling

AGENCY: Federal Communications

Commission.

ACTION: Final rule; waiver request

granted.

SUMMARY: In this document, the

Commission grants the State of Alaska

(Alaska) a limited waiver, which

requires applicants to certify that the

services requested will be used solely

for educational purposes, subject to the

conditions discussed below. The

Commission finds that good cause exists

to allow members of rural remote

communities in Alaska, where there is

no local or toll-free dial-up Internet

access, to use excess service obtained

through the universal service

mechanism for schools and libraries

when not in use by the schools and

libraries for educational purposes.

DATES: Effective January 28, 2002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Katherine Tofigh, Attorney, Common

Carrier Bureau, Accounting Policy

Division, (202) 418–1553.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a

summary of the Commission’s Order in

CC Docket No. 96–45 adopted on

November 29, 2001 and released on

December 3, 2001. The full text of this

document is available for public

inspection during regular business

hours in the FCC Reference Center,

Room CY–A257, 445 Twelfth Street,

SW., Washington, DC, 20554.

I. Introduction

1. In this Order, the Commission

grants the State of Alaska (Alaska) a

limited waiver of § 54.504(b)(2)(ii) of the

Commission’s rules, which requires

applicants to certify that the services

requested will be used solely for

educational purposes, subject to the

conditions discussed below. The

Commission finds that good cause exists

to allow members of rural remote

communities in Alaska, where there is

no local or toll-free dial-up Internet

access, to use excess service obtained

through the universal service

mechanism for schools and libraries

when not in use by the schools and

libraries for educational purposes.

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 249 / Friday, December 28, 2001 / Rules and Regulations 67113

II. Discussion

2. The Commission grants Alaska a

limited waiver of § 54.504(b)(2)(ii), to

permit members of rural remote

communities in Alaska, where there is

no local or toll-free dial-up Internet

access, to use excess service obtained

through the universal service

mechanism for schools and libraries

when the services are not in use by the

schools and libraries for educational

purposes. The Commission grants this

waiver subject to the following

conditions: (1) There is no local or tollfree Internet access available in the

community; (2) the school or library has

not requested more services than are

necessary for educational purposes; (3)

no additional costs will be incurred, i.e.,

services subject to a waiver must be

purchased on a non-usage sensitive

basis; (4) any use for noneducational

purposes will be limited to hours in

which the school or library is not open;

(5) and the excess services are made

available to all capable service providers

in a neutral manner that does not

require or take into account any

commitments or promises from the

service providers.

3. This waiver is dependent on

Alaska’s implementation of these

conditions. The Commission believes

that these conditions are appropriately

tailored to narrow the scope of waiver

to ensure the integrity of the schools

and libraries mechanism, yet broad

enough to provide relief to rural remote

communities in Alaska that are

encountering economic and distancerelated challenges to receiving

telecommunications and advanced

services. Maximizing the use of services

obtained from the schools and libraries

program by permitting such rural

remote communities to use the excess

service that is available as a result of the

non-usage sensitive basis of the service

and the limited hours that the service is

used for educational purposes will

further the goals of universal service,

consistent with the Act. If these

conditions are satisfied, then the

Commission will find that special

circumstances have been met and that a

waiver is in the public interest.

4. As an initial matter, the

Commission concludes that there are no

statutory prohibition against our

waiving § 54.504(b)(2)(ii) of the

Commission’s rules. Section

254(h)(1)(B) provides that eligible

schools and libraries shall receive

discounts on certain services for

educational purposes. Pursuant to the

Commission’s discretion to implement

the statute, the Commission narrowly

constructed its rule to require schools

and libraries to certify that they use

such discounted services solely for

educational purposes. This rule

supports the Commission’s efforts to

guard against fraud, waste, and abuse.

Nothing in section 254(h)(1)(B)

prohibits the Commission from granting

a waiver of § 54.504(b)(2)(ii) of its rules

to expand the use of such services, so

long as in the first instance they are

used for educational purposes.

5. The Commission’s rules, however,

may only be waived for good cause

shown. As noted by the Court of

Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, agency

rules are presumed valid. The

Commission may exercise its discretion

to waive a rule where the particular

facts make strict compliance

inconsistent with the public interest. In

addition, the Commission may take into

account considerations of hardship,

equity, or more effective

implementation of overall policy on an

individual basis. Waiver of the

Commission’s rules is therefore

appropriate only if special

circumstances warrant a deviation from

the general rule, and such a deviation

will serve the public interest.

6. The Commission finds that Alaska’s

waiver request satisfies the above-stated

conditions. First, Alaska has adequately

demonstrated special circumstances.

Alaska states that there are

approximately 240 communities in the

state that lack local or toll-free dial-up

access to the Internet. These

communities are located in remote areas

of the state that are isolated by severe

terrain and a harsh climate. Most of

these communities are sparsely

populated (population under 250), and

are reachable only by air or water. As a

result, access to information services is

minimal and generally cost-prohibitive.

In fact, Alaska asserts that start-up costs

for an Internet service provider in a

village is often more than $20,000, in

addition to the monthly cost for a

satellite link. Of the communities

without local or toll-free dial-up access

to the Internet, 135 have available, nonusage sensitive Internet access at local

schools or libraries. Given their extreme

isolation and the lack of access to

affordable Internet services, the

Commission believes it is appropriate to

allow rural remote areas in Alaska that

lack local or toll-free dial up access to

the Internet to utilize excess service

obtained through the universal service

mechanism under the limited

circumstances described above.

7. The Commission also concludes

that granting Alaska’s waiver will serve

the public interest. The Commission

believes that it is in the public interest

to take steps to utilize the excess

services obtained through the schools

and libraries mechanism. Alaska

explains that nearly 75 percent of rural

Alaskan communities do not have

Internet access via a local dial-up or

toll-free connection. In many of these

communities, however, schools and

libraries have access to information

services because of assistance from the

schools and libraries mechanism. This

waiver will serve the public interest by

promoting access to available resources

and allowing communities to make use

of the excess service. The Commission

finds that the waiver is also in the

public interest because it is consistent

with the Commission’s efforts to

encourage access to advanced

telecommunications and information

services.

8. In addition, the Commission

believes that each of the conditions

imposed with this waiver promotes the

public interest by reducing the

likelihood of waste, fraud, and abuse,

and guarding against additional costs

from being imposed on the schools and

libraries mechanism. These conditions

are discussed separately below.

9. The first condition limits

application of the waiver to

communities in Alaska where there is

no local or toll-free dial-up Internet

access. As noted above, many of these

communities lack affordable access to

the Internet due to their remote nature

but also have available, non-usage

sensitive connections to the Internet in

their schools and libraries. The

Commission believes that allowing

these communities to access services

obtained from the schools and libraries

universal service mechanism will serve

the public interest by reducing waste

and making more efficient use of

available resources.

10. Under the second condition,

eligible schools and libraries in Alaska

are not permitted to request more

services than are necessary for

educational purposes. Alaska will

protect against that possibility by

instructing schools and libraries to

maintain information documenting the

necessity for additional services. This

will reduce the likelihood of fraud and

abuse by enabling the Schools and

Libraries Division of the Universal

Service Administrative Company to

efficiently assess whether additional

requests are associated with educational

purposes. As noted above, this waiver

only allows for the use of excess service

that is incidental to services provided

for educational purposes. If there are

increases in requests not warranted by

educational purposes, we believe that it

will be appropriate to reassess the

propriety of this waiver.

67114 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 249 / Friday, December 28, 2001 / Rules and Regulations

11. The third condition limits the

waiver to communities where the

services used by the school are

purchased on a non-usage sensitive

basis. By limiting implementation of

this waiver to communities that pay a

flat, non-traffic sensitive rate for

services, it reduces wasted resources

and it protects against abuse by ensuring

that the schools and libraries program

does not incur additional costs based on

the increased utilization. In addition,

the Commission notes that any

additional equipment related to the

provision of Internet service to the

community will not be eligible for

support.

12. The fourth condition limits local

community usage to hours in which the

school or library is not open. By limiting

use for non-educational purposes to

non-operating hours for the schools and

libraries, the Commission guards against

abuse by eliminating the possibility that

community usage may interfere with

usage of services for educational

purposes in schools and libraries. In

accord with this condition, Alaska will

include terms in agreements with ISPs

restricting community usage to nonoperating hours. Specifically,

agreements will include an explicit

statement that service is restricted to

non-operating hours of the school or

library and will designate normal

operating hours, along with the

anticipated school year calendar. The

local Internet service provider will also

be required to demonstrate the

effectiveness of how it will restrict

service to the designated hours.

13. Pursuant to the fifth condition,

excess services must be made available

to all capable service providers in a

neutral manner that does not require or

take into account any commitments or

promises from the service providers.

This condition is consistent with the

Act, which prohibits any discounted

services or network capacity from

‘‘being sold, resold, or transferred by

such user in consideration for money or

any other thing of value.’’ We believe

that this condition will ensure that

excess services are not transferred in

exchange for any benefit to the school,

library, or surrounding community,

whether the benefit is a promise of

particular services, prices, or other thing

of value. This condition will also

protect against fraud, waste, and abuse

by providing that all public, tribal, nonprofit, and commercial entities will be

treated equally. We note that there may

be circumstances in which demand for

the excess services by service providers

is greater than the available excess

services. In such instances, the school or

library may determine priority based on

a set of neutral criteria that is consistent

with this condition, such as random

selection, first-come-first-served, or any

other methodology that does not

prioritize based on expectations of

particular benefits to the institution or

surrounding community. The

Commission also notes that this

condition in no way prohibits schools

and libraries from establishing minimal

technical requirements to protect the

integrity of the institution’s network, to

ensure that selected providers are

actually capable of providing service, or

to ensure that selected providers are

prepared to offer service.

14. Therefore, because the

Commission finds that this waiver is in

the public interest and that Alaska has

demonstrated special circumstances, we

find good cause to grant Alaska’s waiver

request subject to the provided

conditions. The Commission is

confident that this waiver will ensure

that appropriate steps will be made to

ensure the integrity of the schools and

libraries universal service mechanism.

III. Ordering Clause

15. Pursuant to sections 1, 4(i), and

254 of the Communications Act of 1934,

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

254 and 1.3 and 1.925 of the

Commission’s rules 47 CFR 1.3 and

1.925, the waiver request filed by the

State of Alaska on January 29, 2001, is

granted, subject to the conditions

indicated herein.

Federal Communications Commission.

Magalie Roman Salas,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 01–31868 Filed 12–27–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS

COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 64

[CC Docket No. 92–105; FCC 00–257]

Require 711 Dialing for Nationwide

Access to Telecommunications Relay

Services; Correction

AGENCY: Federal Communications

Commission.

ACTION: Correction.

SUMMARY: The Commission published a

document in the Federal Register at 66

FR 54165–01 (October 26, 2001) which

corrected certain rules of the Federal

Communications Commission

(Commission) that concern access to

telecommunications relay services

(TRS). The document should have

amended rule § 64.603 to add a third

sentence to the undesignated

introductory paragraph that reads: ‘‘In

addition, each common carrier

providing telephone voice transmission

services shall provide, not later than

October 1, 2001, access via the 711

dialing code to all relay services as a toll

free call.’’ This document corrects the

sentence to provide the correct date of

October 1, 2001.

DATES: Effective October 12, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Susan Magnotti, 202/418–0871, fax 202/

418–2345, TTY 202/418–0484,

smagnott@fcc.gov, Network Services

Division, Common Carrier Bureau.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Federal Communications Commission

published a document correcting rule

§§ 64.601 and 64.603 in the Federal

Register. In FR Doc. 01–26942,

published October 26, 2001 (66 FR

54165), make the following correction:

PART 64—[CORRECTED]

1. On page 54165, in the second

column, correct the rule amendment in

§ 64.603 to read as follows:

3. In § 64.603, revise the undesignated

introductory text to read as follows:

§ 64.603 Provision of services.

Each common carrier providing

telephone voice transmission services

shall provide, not later than July 26,

1993, in compliance with the

regulations prescribed herein,

throughout the area in which it offers

services, telecommunications relay

services, individually, through

designees, through a competitively

selected vendor, or in concert with other

carriers. Speech-to-speech relay service

and interstate Spanish language relay

service shall be provided by March 1,

2001. In addition, each common carrier

providing telephone voice transmission

services shall provide, not later than

October 1, 2001, access via the 711

dialing code to all relay services as a toll

free call. A common carrier shall be

considered to be in compliance with

these regulations:

* * * * *

Federal Communications Commission.

Magalie Roman Salas,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 01–31867 Filed 12–27–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P