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                           Before the
               Federal Communications Commission
                     Washington, D.C. 20554



In the Matter of

Implementation of the Subscriber Carrier
Selection Changes Provisions of the
Telecommunications Act of 1996

21st Century Telecom Services, Inc., RCN
Telecom Services of Illinois, Inc., f/k/a 21st
Century Telecom Group, Inc., 
21st Century Telecom of Illinois, Inc. 

Petition for Waiver
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CC Docket No. 94-129






                             ORDER

   Adopted:  December 4, 2000           Released:  December 5, 2000

By the Associate Chief, Accounting Policy Division, Common Carrier Bureau:

                I.  INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
1.     In its Carrier Change Orders, the Commission adopted rules applicable to carriers
changing a consumer's preferred carrier.  In this Order, we grant 21st Century Telecom Services,
Inc. (21st Century Telecom), RCN Telecom Services of Illinois, Inc., f/k/a 21st Century Telecom
Group, Inc. (RCN), 21st Century Telecom of Illinois, Inc. (21st Century Telecom Illinois)
(collectively, Petitioners) a limited waiver of the authorization and verification requirements of the
Commission's rules and Carrier Change Orders.  We grant this limited waiver to the extent
necessary to enable Petitioners to become the preferred carrier of the consumers currently
presubscribed to Wedgewood Communications Company (Wedgewood), without first obtaining
the consumers' authorization and verification.
2.     Section 258 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended by the
Telecommunications Act of 1996, makes it unlawful for any telecommunications carrier to
"submit or execute a change in a subscriber's selection of a provider of telephone exchange service
or telephone toll service except in accordance with such procedures as the Commission shall
prescribe."  The goal of section 258 is to eliminate the practice of "slamming," the unauthorized
change of a subscriber's preferred carrier.  Pursuant to section 258, carriers are absolutely barred
from changing a customer's preferred local or long distance carrier without first complying with
the Commission's verification procedures.  In the Section 258 Order, the Commission revised its
procedures to ensure that carriers obtain the requisite authority prior to changing a customer's
preferred carrier.  The Commission requires that carriers follow one of the Commission's
prescribed verification procedures before submitting carrier changes on behalf of consumers. 
3.     Petitioners seek a waiver of our verification rules to allow Petitioners to be designated
the preferred local and/or long distance carrier for the affected customers of Wedgewood without
first obtaining each customer's authorization and verification.  Because we conclude that, under
the circumstances presented, it is in the public interest to grant the waiver, we grant Petitioners a
waiver, subject to the conditions represented in their filings.
                        II.  DISCUSSION
4.     Generally, the Commission's rules may be waived for good cause shown.  As noted
by the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, however, 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. 
5.     We find that Petitioners have demonstrated that good cause exists to justify a limited
waiver of the Commission's authorization and verification requirements to the extent necessary to
enable Petitioners to transfer to their own customer base the affected Wedgewood local and/or
long distance customers.  Wedgewood's customer base consists of residents of apartment
communities in Chicago, Illinois.  
6.     In the Waiver Petition, Petitioners state that 21st Century Telecom and Wedgewood
have entered into an asset purchase agreement under which 21st Century Telecom will acquire all
of the assets of Wedgewood, including, but not limited to, Wedgewood's local and long distance
customers located in Chicago, Illinois and the use of Wedgewood's trade name, billing systems,
and network facilities.  This agreement is scheduled to close on November 30, 2000.  In order to
prevent the Wedgewood subscribers from losing service after the transaction closes, Petitioners
plan to provide service to the Wedgewood subscribers using the Wedgewood trade name and
billing system, beginning in December 2000.  Petitioners assert that the Wedgewood subscribers
will also continue to receive telephone service over the Wedgewood network facilities, subject to
the same rates, terms, and conditions.  
7.     To maximize administrative efficiencies and eliminate any customer confusion,
Petitioners ultimately would like to stop using the Wedgewood trade name and serve the
Wedgewood subscribers under the RCN name.  Thus, Petitioners request expedited treatment of
their waiver request to assure that all the Wedgewood subscribers continue to receive
presubscribed local and/or long distance service after the discontinuance of the Wedgewood trade
name. 
8.     According to the Waiver Petition, RCN and its subsidiaries are in the process of
building high-speed, high capacity advanced fiber optic networks to provide a package of
services, including local and long distance telephone, video programming, and data services to
residential customers.  To effectuate the merger and corporate restructuring, 21st Century
Telecom Illinois has filed a request with the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) to surrender its
certificates of authority, and RCN has applied to the ICC for authority to provide local exchange
and interexchange telecommunications services in Illinois.  Once the regulatory approvals have
been received, RCN will be the provider of local exchange and interexchange services for the
affected Wedgewood subscribers. 
9.     We conclude that special circumstances exist to justify a waiver.  Without this waiver,
the service of some former Wedgewood customers might temporarily be interrupted when
Wedgewood ceases providing presubscribed service to customers who fail to respond in a timely
fashion to requests for preferred carrier change authorization; those customers might also pay
potentially higher casual calling rates after the discontinuance of presubscribed service.  We
conclude that a waiver of the Commission's carrier change rules and orders is necessary to
provide a seamless transition with no disruption of service to the transferred customers. 
10.    We find that Petitioners have demonstrated that a limited waiver of the authorization
and verification rules is in the public interest because it will prevent consumers from temporarily
losing service or paying significantly higher rates, and because Petitioners have agreed to notify
the affected customers as described below.  Specifically, Petitioners state that they will undertake
a two-step process to notify the affected customers of the transfer.  To meet state requirements,
Petitioners have already sent a letter informing customers of the proposed transfer and assuring
them that no charges or rate increases will be imposed as a result of the transfer.  Petitioners
state that they have also advised the affected customers that they may choose a different preferred
carrier, should they desire to do so.  In addition, customers were given a toll-free number to call
with any questions they may have about the transition.  
11.    According to Petitioners, once the proposed transfer has been consummated,
Petitioners will notify these customers of that event and reiterate the foregoing information,
assurances, and advice.  In addition, Petitioners have agreed that, if the Commission waives its
rules to permit Petitioners to provide service to Wedgewood's former customers, Petitioners will
work with the complainants and the Commission to investigate and resolve any outstanding
complaints regarding services provided by Wedgewood.  We conclude that these conditions will
adequately protect the rights of the transferred customers of Wedgewood.
12.    For the foregoing reasons, we grant Petitioners a waiver of the authorization and
verification requirements of our rules for the limited purposes described above.  The grant of this
waiver is conditioned upon the provision by Petitioners of customer notification and upon the
handling of complaints, as described above and further detailed in the Waiver Petition.
                     III.  ORDERING CLAUSES

13.    Accordingly, pursuant to authority contained in Sections 1, 4, and 258 of the
Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C.  151, 154, 258, and the authority
delegated under sections 0.91, 0.291, and 1.3 of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R.  0.91,
0.291, 1.3, the waiver request filed by 21st Century Telecom Services, Inc., RCN Telecom
Services of Illinois, Inc., f/k/a 21st Century Telecom Group, Inc., and 21st Century Telecom of
Illinois, Inc. on November 6, 2000, IS GRANTED to the extent indicated herein.  
14.    IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that this Order is effective upon release. 
                              FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION


                              K. Michele Walters
                              Associate Chief, 
                              Accounting Policy Division,
                              Common Carrier Bureau