NEWSReport No. CC 96-12 COMMON CARRIER ACTION April 26, 1996 COMMON CARRIER BUREAU'S TARIFF DIVISION BECOMES THE COMPETITIVE PRICING DIVISION The Common Carrier Bureau has changed the name of its Tariff Division to the Competitive Pricing Division and assigned new responsibilities to the Division. The Competitive Pricing Division will be responsible for developing and implementing policies and rules for common carrier pricing that will facilitate a prompt and successful transition from regulated monopoly markets to deregulated competitive markets. "'Competitive Pricing Division' better reflects the role of the Division, the Bureau and the Commission after passage of the new Telecommunications Act," said Common Carrier Bureau Chief Regina M. Keeney. "The Commission will need pricing policies that look beyond traditional tariffing in order to promote a competitive telecommunications environment. For example, in one of its first actions to implement the new law, the Commission sought comment on mandatory detariffing for long distance companies. In addition, we need to ensure that the pricing of bottleneck services, such as expanded interconnection, encourages the growth of competition." Keeney added, "I am particularly pleased that Jim Schlichting has been able to put together a management team of experienced Commission staffers with talents uniquely suited for the Division's new challenges." The Competitive Pricing Division will be responsible for: - developing and implementing federal regulations pursuant to Section 251 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 that relate to the pricing of the various forms of interconnection; - developing and implementing forbearance under Section 401 of the 1996 Act as it relates to the tariffing and pricing of common carrier telecommunications services; - implementing and administering the regulatory reform provisions of the 1996 Act relating to the review of local telephone company tariffs on a streamlined basis; (over) - 2 - - implementing interstate access charge reform and price cap regulation policies; and - administering the tariffing provisions of Sections 201-205 of the Communications Act, including review of all domestic and international common carrier tariffs, and conducting tariff investigations. The Bureau has also changed the name of the Division's Tariff Review Branch to the Tariff and Pricing Analysis Branch. The Branch will be responsible for conducting economic analysis to support the Bureau's development of pricing policy and will conduct technical and policy review of all carrier tariff filings. The Legal Branch of the Division will continue to be responsible for conducting the Division's rulemaking and other legal proceedings and for conducting legal and policy analysis supporting the Division's assignments. The Bureau today also announced the management team for the Competitive Pricing Division including Division Chief James D. Schlichting, Deputy Division Chief Jane E. Jackson, Deputy Division Chief Patrick J. Donovan, Judith A. Nitsche, Chief of the Tariff and Pricing Analysis Branch and David L. Sieradzki, Chief of the Legal Branch. Information about the Division team is attached to this release. -FCC- Common Carrier Bureau contact: Mindy Ginsburg at (202) 418-1500. Competitive Pricing Division Common Carrier Bureau Federal Communications Commission James D. Schlichting - Division Chief. After joining the Commission in 1985, Mr. Schlichting served as Special Counsel for Domestic Policy in the Bureau's Policy and Program Planning Division, and Common Carrier Legal Advisor to then-Chairman Dennis Patrick. In late 1989, Mr. Schlichting was appointed Chief of the Policy and Program Planning Division, where he led the Bureau's efforts to unbundle local telephone company networks, to implement 800 number and local number portability, to deregulate the long distance market, including the reclassification of AT&T as non-dominant, and to ensure that access charge policies reflected changing competitive and market circumstances. In February 1996, Mr. Schlichting was named Chief of the Tariff Division to lead the Bureau's efforts to develop and implement pricing and access charge policies under the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Prior to joining the FCC, Mr. Schlichting practiced with the law firm of Wilmer, Cutler, and Pickering in Washington, D.C. Mr. Schlichting received a B.A. degree summa cum laude from Yale University, and a J.D. degree magna cum laude from Harvard University Law School. Jane E. Jackson - Deputy Division Chief. Ms. Jackson first came to work at the FCC in 1976, as a staff attorney in the Cable Television Bureau. She later worked at the Public Broadcasting Service, and at NTIA. From 1979-1984 she was Assistant Professor of Law at Salmon P. Chase College of Law, Northern Kentucky University, where she taught administrative law, constitutional law, federal jurisdiction, and civil procedure. She joined the Common Carrier Bureau in 1984, as part of the Computer II implementation staff. Ms. Jackson then moved to the Accounting and Audits Division, where she was the lead attorney responsible for developing the Commission's joint cost rules, which allocate local telephone company costs between regulated and unregulated products and services, as well as for represcribing the local telephone company rate of return. While there, she also worked extensively as a senior attorney on orders that launched the Commission's price cap regulation of common carriers. Between 1991 and 1993, Ms. Jackson also served as Chief of the Legal Branch, Accounting and Audits Division. After practicing law with the firm of Dow, Lohnes & Albertson, Ms. Jackson returned to the FCC as a senior attorney in the Common Carrier Bureau's Policy and Program Planning Division. While there, she was responsible for supervising the Division's rulemaking efforts on video dialtone and, on detail to the Tariff Division, played a key role in the preparation of the Commission's order reviewing the first four years of price cap regulation for the local telephone companies. Ms. Jackson holds a B.A. degree magna cum laude from Barnard College and a J.D. degree from Vanderbilt University School of Law. Patrick J. Donovan - Deputy Division Chief. Mr. Donovan started at the FCC as an attorney in the Mobile Service Division of the Common Carrier Bureau in 1977 and subsequently held staff positions in the Tariff, Domestic Facilities, and Policy and Program Planning Divisions. In the Policy and Program Planning Division, Mr. Donovan was responsible for a number of proceedings including state-related and preemption proceedings, the Joint Conference on Open Network Architecture, and had major responsibility for the Computer III Remand and video dialtone proceedings. While in the Policy Division, he was named Special Counsel in February 1993. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Donovan was given major responsibility for implementing the rate regulation provisions of the 1992 Cable Act, and served successively in 1993 and 1994 as Special Counsel/Cable Rates in the office of the Bureau Chief, Mass Media Bureau, Acting Deputy Chief of the Cable Services Division in the Mass Media Bureau, and Acting Chief of the Policy and Rules Division of the Cable Services Bureau. In October 1994, Mr. Donovan was named Assistant Chief/Policy Coordination of the Common Carrier Bureau and in September 1995 was named Associate Bureau Chief. In these latter positions, Mr. Donovan was responsible for coordination of issues and proceedings between the Common Carrier and other Bureaus and conducting the Bureau's legislative affairs. In February 1996, Mr. Donovan was named Deputy Chief, Industry Analysis Division in the Common Carrier Bureau. Mr. Donovan holds a J.D. degree from Georgetown University Law Center and a B.A. degree cum laude from Brandeis University. Judith A. Nitsche - Chief, Tariff and Pricing Analysis Branch. Ms. Nitsche started at the FCC in 1975 as a public utility specialist in the Tariff Review Branch of the Tariff Division, where she was responsible for review of tariffs and economic support data filed by interstate carriers including AT&T, Western Union Telegraph Company and MCI. In 1981, Ms. Nitsche was named Senior Public Utilities Specialist. In 1985, she was named Chief of the Tariff Review Branch. As Branch Chief, Ms. Nitsche has been responsible for managing the Bureau's review of all interstate tariffs and supporting economic data. Initially, the review of both AT&T's and local telephone company tariffs occurred pursuant to the Commission's rate-of-return regulation rules. Many of the local telephone companies' interstate tariffs were filed on an industry-wide basis by the National Exchange Carrier Association. The work of the Branch has evolved significantly in recent years. Many local telephone companies have started filing individual company tariffs. Rate-of-return review has been substantially replaced by review under price cap regulation. And the Commission has permitted AT&T to file contract-based tariffs. Under Ms. Nitsche's leadership, the Branch's responsibilities will continue to evolve as the Telecommunications Act of 1996 is implemented. Prior to joining the Commission, Ms. Nitsche held cost and rate engineering positions with the Western Union Telegraph Company and Data Transmission Company. Ms. Nitsche holds a B.S. degree in business administration from the University of Dayton. David L. Sieradzki - Chief, Legal Branch. Mr. Sieradzki served as an attorney in the Policy and Program Planning Division of the Common Carrier Bureau from 1991 to 1996. In that role, he most recently supervised several proceedings on pricing policy issues relating to local telephone competition and to the interconnection between incumbent local exchange carriers and new entrants, including wireless providers. Over the years, Mr. Sieradzki has been heavily involved in a large variety of Policy Division proceedings relating to interconnection, the Commission's access charge rules, and its price cap rules. Under Mr. Sieradzki's supervision, the Legal Branch will play a key role in implementing the interconnection pricing provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Before joining the Commission's staff, Mr. Sieradzki practiced law in the Washington, D.C. office of Morrison & Foerster. Mr. Sieradzki holds a B.A. in economics and a Master's degree in public policy from the University of California, Berkeley, and a J.D. from the Yale Law School.