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Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
March 5, 2013
DA 13-339
Via Electronic Mail and First-Class Mail
Craig J. Brown
Associate General Counsel
CenturyLink, Inc.
1801 California Street, 10th Floor
Denver, CO 80202

RE:

In the Matter of CenturyLink’s Petition for Forbearance Pursuant to 47 U.S.C. §
160(c) from Dominant Carrier and Certain Computer Inquiry

Requirements on
Enterprise Broadband Services (WC Docket No. 12-60)

Dear Mr. Brown:
On February 23, 2012, CenturyLink filed a petition seeking forbearance from “dominant carrier
regulation and the Computer Inquiry tariffing requirement with respect to its packet-switched and optical
transmission services.”1 In order for the Commission to complete its review of the petition, we require
additional information from CenturyLink.
Accordingly, we request that you provide written responses and supporting documentation for
each request set forth in the attached Information, Data and Document Request. In order to expedite
consideration of your forbearance petition, please respond to the following requests by

March 26, 2013

.
Your responses should be filed with Marlene H. Dortch, Secretary, Federal Communications
Commission, in the above-captioned docket. The Wireline Competition Bureau should also receive an
electronic copy, pursuant to the attached instructions. If you submit information pursuant to the
Protective Orders issued in this proceeding, please follow the filing procedures specified therein.2


1 See Petition of CenturyLink for Forbearance Pursuant to 47 U.S.C. § 160(c) from Dominant Carrier and Certain
Computer Inquiry Requirements on Enterprise Broadband Services, WC Docket No. 12-60 (filed Feb. 23, 2012) at
1; Petition of CenturyLink for Forbearance Pursuant to 47 U.S.C. § 160(c) from Dominant Carrier and Certain
Computer Inquiry Requirements on Enterprise Broadband Services, WC Docket 12-60, Order, DA 13-286 (rel. Feb.
22, 2013) (extending by 90 days the date on which CenturyLink’s petition shall be deemed granted).
2 See Petition of CenturyLink for Forbearance Pursuant to 47 U.S.C. § 160(c) from Dominant Carrier and Certain
Computer Inquiry Requirements on Enterprise Broadband Services, WC Docket No. 12-60, Protective Order, 27
FCC Rcd 2895 (2012); Petition of CenturyLink for Forbearance Pursuant to 47 U.S.C. § 160(c) from Dominant
Carrier and Certain Computer Inquiry Requirements on Enterprise Broadband Services, WC Docket No. 12-60,
Second Protective Order, DA 13-338 (rel. March 5, 2012).

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If you have any questions regarding this matter or the Commission’s request, please contact
Jennifer Prime at 202-418-2403.
Sincerely,
Julie A. Veach
Chief, Wireline Competition Bureau
Attachment
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ATTACHMENT

INFORMATION, DATA, AND DOCUMENT REQUEST

I. Definitions

Competitive Provider

means a competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC), interexchange carrier, cable
operator, wireless company, and any other entity, except for an incumbent local exchange carrier
(ILEC), that is subject to the Commission’s jurisdiction, as provided for by the Communications Act
of 1934, as amended, and provides

Dedicated Service

.3

Connection

is a wired line or wireless channel that provides to an

End User

a dedicated communication
path between an

End User Location

(which includes a cell site) and the first

Node

on a

Provider’s

network. Multiple dedicated communication paths serving one or more

End Users

at the same

Location

using the same wired line or wireless channel should be counted as a single

Connection

.
For purposes of this request, wired lines and wireless channels used to provide dedicated
communications paths within and between

Providers

’ networks (e.g., connections between

Nodes

)
are not considered

Connections

.

Dedicated Service

is a

Connection

that does not include “best effort” services, e.g., mass market
broadband services such as DSL and cable modem broadband access.

End User

means a business, institutional, or government entity that purchases

Dedicated Service

for its
own purposes and does not resell such service. A facilities-based mobile wireless service

Provider

is
considered an

End User

when it purchases

Dedicated Service t

o make

Connections

within its own
network, e.g., backhaul to a cell site.

Indefeasible Right of Use (IRU)

means an indefeasible right to use facilities for a certain period of time
that is commensurate with the remaining useful life of the asset, generally 10-20 years. The right
confers on the grantee the vestiges of ownership and typically involves a substantial sum paid up
front, generally priced as a certain amount (depending on market rates) per mile or per fiber mile.

Listed Service

means the services listed in Attachment I.

Listed County

means the geographic extent of a county lying within or overlapping a CenturyLink study
area.

Listed Zip Code

means the geographic extent of each 5-digit Zip Code lying within or overlapping a
CenturyLink study area.

Location

is an end-user premise, building, or other free-standing end-user site. For the purpose of this
collection, cell sites are treated as

Locations

, and not as

Nodes

.

Node

is an aggregation point, a branch point, or a point of interconnection on a

Provider’s

network,
including a point of interconnection to other

Provider

networks. Examples include LEC central
offices, remote terminal locations, splice points (including, for example, at manholes), controlled
environmental vaults, cable system headends, cable modem termination system (CMTS) locations,
and facility hubs.

Provider

means any entity that supplies electronic communications services, including voice, data, and/or
video services using its own facilities or facilities leased subject to an

IRU

agreement.

Providers

include incumbent LECs, competitive LECs, interexchange carriers, cable operators, and companies
that provide fixed wireless communications services.

Providers

that own, or lease subject to an

IRU

,
wired lines or wireless channels that provide a dedicated path as set forth in our definition of

Connection,

should report a

Connection

even when the

End User

(or seller of CMRS) obtains
service over that

Connection

from another entity. For example, CenturyLink would report a

Connection

if it directly sells service to a bank between the bank and the first

Node

on its network
over a fiber strand that it owns or leases subject to an

IRU

. CenturyLink would also report a

Connection

if, by tariff, contract, or other non-

IRU

arrangement, a CLEC provides service to the


3 See 47 U.S.C. § 151 et seq.
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bank over a fiber strand that CenturyLink owns or leases subject to an

IRU

. Though in the second
example CenturyLink is selling or otherwise supplying the path to a

Provider

, which is excluded
from our definition of

End User

(except for facilities-based mobile wireless service

Providers

),
CenturyLink still must report the

Connection

to the

End User

. CenturyLink reports the

Connection

in both instances because it is the ILEC that is providing the physical, dedicated communication path
between a

Location

and the first

Node

on the

Provider’s

network.

Unbundled Network Element (UNE)

means a

Connection

provided to a requesting telecommunications
carrier on a non-discriminatory basis pursuant to 47 C.F.R. § 51.319(a).

II. Instructions:

1. Responses to questions IV.1-IV.10 are data specifications. Responses to these questions should be
prepared pursuant to the instructions provided in the templates available at
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-319278A1.xlsx.
2. Data specifications should be submitted in accordance with these instructions, as well as the general
instructions provided at the end of this Letter.
3. Questions IV.1, IV.3 and IV.4 request data by 5-digit Zip Code area. If there are additional 5-digit
Zip Code Areas for which CenturyLink seeks relief that are not included in the template, please add a
row for each additional zip code area and use your amended zip code list for your responses as
needed.
4. Questions IV.2, IV.6, IV.7, IV.8 and IV.9 request data by county. If there are additional counties for
which CenturyLink seeks relief that are not included in the template, please add a row for each
additional county and use your amended county list for your responses as needed.
5. Question IV.10 requests data by county for each Request for Proposal (RFP) for a

Listed Service

for
which CenturyLink submitted a bid in the past 2 years. The list of counties should include all
counties in which CenturyLink provides or would have provided services in response to the RFP, not
only those counties overlapping areas in which CenturyLink seeks relief.
6. Data specification questions should be submitted in electronic form only, preferably CDs. Please
contact the Competition Policy Division staff members listed in the cover letter to this request if you
would like to submit an electronic medium other than a CD.
7. For data specification submissions, label each CD or other electronic media device submitted, and on
that label, please provide your name and the content of the electronic media device (e.g.,
“CenturyLink response to Question III.A.2”).
8. Responses to Interrogatory questions should be prepared as narratives, separately from the data
specification submissions described above, and submitted in accordance with the instructions in this
Letter.
9. With each submission, provide an accompanying cover letter that: (a) identifies the type of
submission (data specification, narrative, or both); (b) identifies each response by question number
(e.g., “we are submitting a response to Question III.1.A in this submission”); and (c) indicates
whether the materials are a partial or full response to the data request.
10. Unless otherwise specified, each request is for data as of June 30, 2012.

III.

Interrogatories and Document Request:

1. Submit the name and study area code of each study area for which CenturyLink seeks relief and
provide an esri shapefile of the study area’s boundaries.
2. Identify each customer category that CenturyLink uses to market services or to monitor its sales. For
example, does CenturyLink market or monitor sales to carriers separately from sales to commercial
businesses and from sales to mass market customers? Does CenturyLink further or alternatively
segment its customer categories by other characteristics? For example, does CenturyLink use the
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service’s attributes, such as the dollar value of the contract, the capacity of the service (10 Mbps
versus 1 Gbps), or the existence of multi-year contracts or service level agreements to segment
customers into customer categories? Does CenturyLink segment customers based on the number of

Locations

or geographic areas for which the customer purchases the service? For example, does
CenturyLink categorize purchasers whose

Locations

are all within one state separately from
purchasers whose

Locations

are spread across multiple states?
3. For each

Listed Service

for which CenturyLink seeks relief:
a) Provide information about the service’s characteristics, such as its bandwidth or bandwidth range,
whether it is circuit-switched (TDM) or packet-switched, etc.
b) Delineate the customer category or categories each service is generally sold to as described by
CenturyLink’s response to Interrogatory Question 2. For example, is the

Listed Service

a retail
service sold to businesses for their own use or is the

Listed Service

a wholesale service sold to
CenturyLink’s competitors?
c) Explain the pricing structure for each

Listed Service

. For example, is there a fixed monthly rate
and/or a mileage component to the price? Is there a volume discount? Does the service’s price
vary with whether it is bought with a service level agreement, and the nature of that agreement?
Does the service’s price vary with the purchaser’s term commitment? Delineate and explain any
difference in the pricing structure between customer categories for each

Listed Service

. Also
delineate and explain any price difference in the pricing structure between the study areas for
which CenturyLink seeks relief.
4. For each

Listed Service

, by

Listed County

:
a) provide the name of each

Competitive Provider

offering similar services within the

Listed

County

;
b) indicate whether the competitor is a facilities-based

Provider

within the

Listed County

(and, if
so, provide evidence supporting any assertion that the competitor is facilities-based within the

Listed County

);
c) provide an analysis of the market share of the competitor, or other evidence of the competitor’s
presence in the

Listed County

or study area, along with supporting data.
5. Submit a copy of analysis documents created in the last twelve months relating to competition
between CenturyLink and its competitors for a

Listed Service

within any study area for which
CenturyLink seeks relief, including documents relating to (a) the market share or competitive position
of CenturyLink or any of its competitors; (b) the relative strength or weakness of its competitors;
(c) analysis of customer churn; and (d) attempts to win customers from other companies and losses of
customers to other companies.

IV. Data Request:

1. For each

Listed Zip Code

, indicate:
a) Whether CenturyLink provides each

Listed Service

as an ILEC, a CLEC or both;
b) Whether CenturyLink seeks relief in the area;
c) Whether CenturyLink is a carrier of last resort in the area.
If there is an additional 5-digit Zip Code Area for which CenturyLink seeks relief that is not included
in the template, please add a row for each additional area and use your amended

Listed Zip Code

for
your responses as needed below.
2. For each

Listed County

, indicate whether CenturyLink seeks relief in the county. If there is an
additional county in which CenturyLink seeks relief that is not included in the listing, please add a
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row for each additional county and use your amended

Listed County

list for your responses as
needed below.
3. For each 5-digit Zip Code that lies within or overlaps a study area for which CenturyLink seeks relief,
provide by 5-digit Zip Code:
a) The total number of

Locations

to which your company provided a

Connection

that you own or
that you lease from another entity under an

IRU

agreement as of June 30, 2012. Provide the total
number of

Connections

at these

Locations

for the following capacities:
i) Up to and including a 1.544 Mpbs;
ii) Above 1.544 Mbps and up to and including 44.736 Mbps;
iii) Above 44.736 Mbps and up to and including 155.52 Mbps;
iv) Above 155.42 Mbps;
v) Dark fiber.
b) The total number of the

Locations

to which your company provided a

Connection

to a free
standing cell tower or to a cell tower on a building that you own or that you lease from another
entity under an

IRU

agreement as of June 30, 2012. Provide the total number of

Connections

at
these

Locations

for the following capacities:
i) Up to and including a 1.544 Mpbs;
ii) Above 1.544 Mbps and up to and including 44.736 Mbps;
iii) Above 44.736 Mbps and up to and including 155.52 Mbps;
iv) Above 155.42 Mbps;
v) Dark fiber.
4. For each 5-digit Zip Code that lies within or overlaps a study area for which CenturyLink seeks relief,
provide:
a) the total number of

Connections

that you provide to another

Provider

under an

IRU

agreement
for dark fiber as of June 30, 2012;
b) the total number of

End User Connections

provisioned by you to another

Provider

using the
following

UNEs

:
i) Dry copper loops;
ii) DS1s;
iii) DS3s.
c) the total number of

Connections

provisioned by you to another

Provider

in the following
capacities, other than by a

UNE

:
i) DS1s;
ii) DS3s;
iii) Dark fiber.
5. For each

Listed Service

provide your nationwide total revenues, by customer class, as identified by
CenturyLink in response to Interrogatory Question 2, as of June 30, 2012.
6. For each

Listed County

, provide, by

Listed Service

and customer class (as defined by
CenturyLink’s response to Interrogatory Question 2), your total annual revenues as of June 30, 2012.
7. For each

Listed County

, for the top ten

Providers

ranked by sold capacity of

End User

Connections

sold by you under

IRU

agreement for dark fiber, provide:
a) The name of the

Provider

;
b) Total annual sales revenues earned through the sale of these

End User Connections.

8. For each

Listed County

, for the top ten

Providers

ranked by sold capacity of

End User

Connections

you provisioned to another

Provider

using

UNEs

, provide:
6

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a) The name of the

Provider

;
b) Total annual sales revenues earned through the sale of these

End User Connections

;
c) The total annual number of provisioned

End User Connections

sold to the

Provider

for past 12
months as of June 30, 2012:
i) Dry Copper Loops;
ii) DS1s;
iii) DS3s.
9. For each

Listed County

, for the top ten

Providers

ranked by sold capacity of

End User

Connections

you provisioned to another

Provider

other than through a

UNE

or an

IRU

agreement,
provide:
a) The name of the

Provider

;
b) Total annual sales revenues earned through the sale of these

End User Connections

;
c) The total annual number of provisioned

End User Connections

sold to the

Provider

for past 12
months as of June 30, 2012:
i) DS1s;
ii) DS3s;
iii) Dark fiber.
10. For each

Listed Service

for which CenturyLink seeks forbearance, identify all Requests for Proposals
(RFPs) involving such services to which CenturyLink submitted a bid in the past 2 years, and provide
a) the name of the entity soliciting the bid,
b) the date of the RFP,
c) the counties in which services were to be provided,
d) the services to be provided,
e) the estimated annual revenue of the contract in the county,
f) the result of the RFP (e.g., whether CenturyLink won the bid or the identity of the winning
bidder(s), if known).
Provide any analysis of the RFP process or award, including analysis of why or how the winning bid
was selected or why other bids were rejected. CenturyLink’s response to Request 10c should include
all counties in which the services were to be provided even if some of the counties lie outside of the
geographic area in which CenturyLink seeks relief.
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Attachment I – Legacy Services For Which Relief Is Being Sought4

Legacy CenturyLink Services

A. Ethernet Transport - Ethernet Transport (ET) service is a high speed data transport service that
provides point-to-point data transmissions in a fast packet based protocol. ET is available at 11
transport speeds: 10 Mbps, 20 Mbps, 50 Mbps, 100 Mbps, 150 Mbps, 300 Mbps, 450 Mbps, 600
Mbps, 1 Gbps, 2.5 Gbps, and 10 Gbps.
B. Ethernet Virtual Private Line - Ethernet Virtual Private Line (EVPL) service provides the ability to
order Ethernet service where a single connection can support multiple applications with varying
Quality of Service (QoS). EVPL is available at transport speeds of: 10 Mbps, 100 Mbps, 1 Gbps, and
10 Gbps.
C. Local Transport - Local Transport is a two-way voice frequency transmission path which permits the
transport of calls in the originating direction and in the terminating direction, but not simultaneously.
The voice frequency transmission path may be comprised of any form or configuration of plant
capable of and typically used in the telecommunications industry for the transmission of voice and
associated telephone signals within the frequency bandwidth of approximately 300 to 3000 Hz. Local
Transport is available at bandwidths of OC3 and OC12.
D. Synchronous Optical Channel Service - Synchronous Optical Channel Service (SOCS) provides
dedicated transport utilizing Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) transmissions standards. SOCS
is available at transmission rates of OC3 (155.52 Mbps), OC12 (622.08 Mbps), OC48 (2488.32
Mbps), and OC192 (9953.28 Mbps).
E. Custom Connect - Custom Connect provides a connection to the Optical Network and a customer’s
designated premises. Custom Connect may be ordered as switched or special access and is available
at OC3, OCl2, OC48, and OC192 bandwidth capacity.
F. Frame Relay Access Service - Frame Relay Access Service (FRAS) is a medium speed, connection-
oriented packet-switched data service that allows for the interconnection of Local Area Networks
(LANs) or other compatible End User customer premises equipment for the purpose of connecting to
an interstate frame relay network.
G. Asynchronous Transfer Mode Cell Relay Access Service - Asynchronous Transfer Mode Cell Relay
Access Service (ATM-CRS) is a connection-oriented transport service that is based on ATM
technology using fixed length, 53-byte cells. ATM-CRS provides high-speed data transport for
bandwidth intensive data, voice, or video applications with the ability to interconnect multiple
locations using the ATM-CRS network.
H. Video Frame Services - Type II (270 Mbps) - 270 Mbps Video is provided via one non-compressed
video signal with audio offered as an option in increments of two stereo channels. 270 Mbps Video is
offered as a switched configuration or a dedicated (non-switched) configuration. The switched
configuration may be a point-to-point or multi-point arrangement that terminates on ports of the


4 This appendix is a copy of Appendix A of CenturyLink’s Petition. Petition of CenturyLink for Forbearance
Pursuant to 47 U.S.C. §160(c) from Dominant Carrier and Certain Computer Inquiry Requirements on Enterprise
Broadband Services, WC Docket No. 12-60 (filed Feb. 23, 2012).
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Telephone Company’s video switch. The dedicated arrangement is a point-to-point service for the
transmission of video without accessing the Telephone Company’s video switch.

Legacy Embarq Services

I.
Ethernet Virtual Private Line - Ethernet Virtual Private Line (EVPL) service provides the ability to
order Ethernet service where a single connection can support multiple applications with varying
Quality of Service (QoS). EVPL is available at transport speeds of: 10 Mbps, 100 Mbps, 1 Gbps, and
10 Gbps.
J. 270 Mbps Digital Video Transport Service (DVTS) - 270 Mbps DVTS is a broadband digital video
transport channel with one-way transmission capability and provides 270 Mbps high quality video.
The service may include up to four 20 kHz Audio Engineering Society (AES)/European Broadcasting
Union (EBU) digital audio signals.
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