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PUBLIC NOTICE

Federal Communications Commission

News Media Information 202 / 418-0500

445 12th St., S.W.

Internet: http://www.fcc.gov

Washington, D.C. 20554

TTY: 1-888-835-5322

DA 11-1715

Release Date: October 14, 2011

FCC ANNOUNCES AGENDA FOR

OCTOBER 18 RURAL CALL COMPLETION WORKSHOP

Washington, D.C. In a September 26, 2011 News Release, the Commission announced the creation of
the Rural Call Completion Task Force to investigate and address the growing problem of calls to rural
customers that are being delayed or that fail to connect. The Release noted that the Task Force would
hold a workshop on October 18 to identify specific causes of the problem and to discuss potential
solutions with key stakeholders. The Agenda for the workshop follows.

RURAL CALL COMPLETION WORKSHOP AGENDA

9:15 am

Opening Remarks

9:30 10:30 am

Panel One: Rural Call Completion Problems - Causes and Effects

Moderator:

Jeff Goldthorp, Associate Chief, Public Safety and Homeland Security
Bureau, FCC
Discussion Topics:

Analysis of symptoms and scope of problem based upon data collected

Effects on customers

Possible causes, including roles of least-cost routing, wireless call quality,
IP-based technology interoperability, and incidence of intentional call
blocking
Panelists:

Robert Gnapp, NECA

Fritz Hendricks, Onvoy Voice Services

Denny Law, Golden West Telecommunications

Dave Lewis, ANPI / Zone Telecom

Kim Meola, AT&T Services, Inc.

Dale Merten, Toledo Telephone

Tami Spocogee, PAETEC
10:30 10:45 am

Question and Answer Session with Pane

l
10:45 11:00 am

Break

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11:00 12:00 pm

Panel Two: How Can Rural Call Completion Problems be Addressed?

Moderator:

Deena Shetler, Associate Chief, Wireline Competition Bureau, FCC
Discussion Topics:

Facilitating information sharing among carriers

Least cost routing contracts requirements

Industry-consensus solutions including best practices, interoperability and
performance profiles, and new technical standards

Possible regulatory solutions
Panelists:

Scott Booth, Verizon

Jill Canfield, NTCA

Martin Corso, TDS Telecommunications Corp.

Penn Pfautz, AT&T Services, Inc.

Rick Ratliff, Sprint
12:00 12:15 pm

Question and Answer Session with Panel

The workshop will be held in the Commission Meeting Room (TWC-305), 445 12th Street, S.W.,
Washington, D.C. and will be open to the public; however, admission will be limited to the seating
available. Those attending are encouraged to pre-register by sending an email with their name, title,
organization affiliation and contact information to RuralCall@fcc.gov.
The workshop will be webcast live at http://fcc.gov/live/ and questions during the event can be emailed to
RuralCall@fcc.gov. The workshop can also be replayed later at http://www.fcc.gov/events/past. Further
details on this workshop can be found at http://www.fcc.gov/events/rural-call-completion-workshop.
Reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities are available upon request. The request should
include a detailed description of the accommodation needed and contact information. We ask that
requests for accommodations be made as soon as possible in order to allow the agency to satisfy such
requests whenever possible. Send an e-mail to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer & Governmental
Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice), or (202) 418-0432 (tty).
Further questions regarding the workshop can be directed to Myrva Charles in the Competition Policy
Division, Wireline Competition Bureau at (202) 418-1506 (voice), myrva.charles@fcc.gov.
- FCC -
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