Opinion ID: 169513
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: BOC Waiver Request and the FCC's Waiver/Refund Order

Text: On April 10, 1997, five days before NST-compliant intrastate PAL tariff rates were to be effective, the coalition of Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOC Coalition) asked the FCC to delay the effective date for NST-compliant intrastate tariffs for forty-five days. The RBOC Coalition's letter stated the BOCs had not previously understood the Payphone Orders to require that rates for existing, previously tariffed intrastate payphone services had to comply with the NST. The RBOC Coalition requested an extension until May 19, 1997, to file new, NST-compliant tariffs in states where existing tariffs were not NST compliant, but asked to be allowed to begin collecting per-call compensation as scheduled on April 15. In exchange for the ability to receive per-call compensation as scheduled, the BOCs volunteered to reimburse or credit PSPs in states where the new, NST-compliant rate was lower than the prior tariff rate. In a follow-up letter on April 11, 1997, the RBOC Coalition explained, The waiver will allow LECs . . . to gather the relevant cost information and either be prepared to certify that the existing tariffs satisfy the costing standards of the new services test or to file new or revised tariffs that do satisfy those standards. The FCC approved the RBOC Coalition's request for a waiver in an April 15, 1997, order. Matter of Implementation of the Pay Telephone Reclassification and Compensation Provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, 12 F.C.C.R. 21370, 21379 ¶ 19, 1997 WL 180285 (1997) (Waiver/Refund Order). In its Waiver/Refund Order, the Commission granted LECs a limited waiver until May 19, 1997, to enable[] LECs to file intrastate tariffs consistent with the `new services' test of the federal guidelines detailed in the Order on Reconsideration and the Bureau Waiver Order, including cost support data. Id. at 21370-71 ¶ 2 (footnote omitted). Under the Waiver/Refund Order, an LEC would remain eligible to receive [per-call] payphone compensation on April 15, 1997 provided it was able to certify it had met all the other prerequisites set out in paragraph 131 of the Order on Reconsideration. Id. at 21371 ¶ 2. The Commission indicated, however, A LEC who seeks to rely on the waiver granted in the instant Order must reimburse its customers or provide credit from April 15, 1997 in situations where the newly tariffed rates, when effective, are lower than the existing tariffed rates. Id. Finally, the Commission specified, The existing intrastate payphone service tariffs will continue in effect until the intrastate tariffs filed pursuant to this Order become effective. Id. at 21379 ¶ 19. The Commission ordered the states to act on the tariffs filed pursuant to this Order within a reasonable period of time, id. at 21379 ¶ 19 n. 60, but was silent as to whether the LECs, PSPs, or the Commission itself should take action if the states failed to conduct the inquiry required by the Payphone Orders and was similarly silent on a suggested process for regulators or PSPs to follow if LECs failed to submit the required tariffs and supporting documentation.