Pay Telephone Reclassification and Compensation Provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 64

[CC Docket 96-128; DA 97-2162]

Pay Telephone Reclassification and Compensation Provisions of the

Telecommunications Act of 1996

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Final rule; petition for waiver.

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SUMMARY: On October 7, 1997, the Common Carrier Bureau granted, on its

own motion, a limited waiver of five months, until March 9, 1998, to

those local exchange carriers and payphone service providers that

cannot provide payphone-specific digits as required by orders in this

proceeding. This limited waiver applied to the requirement that local

exchange carriers provide payphone-specific coding digits to payphone

service providers, and that payphone service providers provide coding

digits from their payphones before they can receive per-call

compensation from interexchange carriers for subscriber 800 and access

code calls, and 0+ and inmate calls. The limited waiver recognized that

three parties had filed petitions for waiver of the payphone-specific

coding digit requirements.

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 7, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rose Crellin or Greg Lipscomb, Formal

Complaints and Information Branch, Enforcement Division, Common Carrier

Bureau. (202) 418-0960.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A toll-free call transmitted by a local

exchange carrier (LEC) to an interexchange carrier (IXC) carries with

it billing information codes, called automatic number identification

(ANI), supplied by the LEC that assist the IXC in properly billing the

call. Currently, however, not all payphone calls carry the payphone-

specific coding digits necessary to identify the calls as payphone

calls, making per-call tracking and blocking more difficult.

In the Payphone Orders,1 we imposed a requirement that

LECs provide payphone-specific coding digits to payphone service

providers (PSPs), and that PSPs provide those digits from their

payphones before the PSPs can receive per-call compensation from IXCs

for subscriber 800 and access code calls.2 In the Order on

Reconsideration, we clarified that, to be eligible for per-call

compensation beginning October 7, 1997, payphones are required to

transmit specific payphone coding digits as a part of their ANI, which

will assist in identifying payphones to compensation

payers.3 Each payphone must transmit coding digits that

specifically identify it as a payphone, and not merely as a restricted

line.4 We also clarified that by October 7, 1997, LECs must

make available to PSPs, on a tariffed basis, such coding digits as a

part of the ANI for each payphone.

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\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),

11 FCC Rcd 20,541 (1996), (``Report and Order''); Order on

Reconsideration, 61 FR 65341 (December 12, 1996), 11 FCC Rcd 21,233

(1996)(''Order on Reconsideration'') (together the ``Payphone

Orders'').

\2\ See Report and Order, 11 FCC Rcd at 20,591, paras. 98-99;

Order on Reconsideration, 11 FCC Rcd at 21265-66, para. 64, and

21,278-80, paras. 93-99.

\3\ See Order on Reconsideration, 11 FCC Rcd at 21265-66, para.

64, and 21,278-80, paras. 93-99.

\4\ See id.

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We have received three requests for a waiver of the payphone-

specific coding digit requirements.5 Meanwhile, we have

granted, on our own motion, pursuant to Sec. 1.3 of our rules, a

limited waiver, until March 9, 1998, of the payphone-specific coding

requirement for those LECs and PSPs not yet able to provide

transmission of such digits. Those LECs and PSPs that are able to

transmit the required coding digits by October 7, 1997, remain

obligated to do so. Similarly, the remaining LECs and PSPs are

obligated to transmit the required coding digits as soon as they are

technically capable, but in any event no later than March 9, 1998.

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\5\ Requests were received from the United States Telephone

Association (USTA), the LEC ANI Coalition and TDS Communications

Corporation. Those petitions have been placed on public notice for

comments. See DA 97-2214, Pleading Cycle Established for Petitions

to Waive Payphone Coding Digits Requirements, October 20, 1997.

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During the period between October 7, 1997, and March 9, 1998,

payphones appearing on the LEC-provided lists of payphones will be

eligible for per-call compensation even if they do not transmit

payphone-specific codes. This waiver of the requirements applicable to

LECs and PSPs will provide LECs, IXCs, and PSPs with additional time

that the record indicates is necessary to implement the procedures

needed to transmit payphone-specific coding digits, without further

delaying the payment of per-call compensation required by section 276

of the Act.6

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\6\ This waiver does not change the obligations of LECs pursuant

to our requirements in Policies and Rules Concerning Operator

Service Access and Pay Telephone Compensation, Third Report and

Order, CC Docket No. 91-35, 61 FR 26466 (May 28, 1996), 11 FCC Rcd

17,021 (1996).

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[[Page 60035]]

We also include LECs that have non-equal-access switches in the

general coverage of this waiver. We do not address in this order the

special problems presented by non-equal-access switches that were

raised in the USTA Petition.7 We will be addressing in a

separate order the issues raised by parties regarding the provision of

payphone-specific coding digits by non-equal-access switches.

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\7\ USTA Petition at 9, 11.

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This waiver is effective immediately in order to ensure that all

PSPs receive per-call compensation effective October 7, 1997, as

required by the Payphones Orders.

This waiver is appropriate because special circumstances warrant a

deviation from the general rule, and such a deviation will serve the

public interest.8 The special circumstances are that

transmission of payphone-specific coding digits is not yet ready for

implementation for certain payphones. The industry is, however, working

on an expeditious resolution of this situation. The public interest is

served by this waiver because it allows the Commission to move forward

in implementing the statutory requirement 9 that PSPs

receive fair compensation for calls placed from their payphones.

Refusal to waive this requirement would lead to the inequitable result

that many payphone providers, particularly independent providers who do

not control the network modifications necessary to permit payphone-

specific coding digits to be transmitted, would be denied any

compensation while implementation issues are being resolved by the

industry. This limited waiver, moreover, will not significantly harm

any parties. The unavailability of these coding digits, for instance,

will not preclude IXCs from identifying payphone calls for the purpose

of determining the number of calls for which compensation is owned. Nor

will the waiver interefere with the possibly sixty percent of payphones

that currently are able to transmit payphone-specific coding digits.

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\8\ WAIT Radio v. FCC, 418 F.2d 1153, 1159 (D.C. Cir. 1969).

\9\ 47 U.S.C. 276(b)(A).

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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 Secs. 0.91, 0.291

and 1.3 of the Commission's rules, 47 CFR 0.91, 0.291 and 1.3, it is

ordered on the Commission's own motion that the time before payphone-

specific coding digits are required for per-call compensation is

extended until March 9, 1998, to the extent described herein.

It is further ordered that this order is effective upon release

thereof, and that the waiver included in this order is effective

October 7, 1997.

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 64

Communications common carriers, Operator service access, Payphone

compensation, Telephone.

Federal Communications Commission.

A. Richard Metzger, Jr.,

Acting Chief, Common Carrier Bureau.

[FR Doc. 97-29305 Filed 11-5-97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712-01-P