NEWSJune 19, 1997 Public Forum on Local Exchange Carrier Billing for Other Businesses: Announcement of Agenda Date: Tuesday, June 24, 1997 Location: Commission Meeting Room Federal Communications Commission 1919 M Street, NW, Washington, DC 20554 Time: 9:00 a.m.- 3:30 p.m. Agenda: 9:00 - 10:30 Panel 1: Is LEC Billing for Others Important to Other Carriers and Consumers? Participants will address generally the extent to which local exchange carriers (LECs) bill for other carriers, what services they bill for, what changes in billing procedures or agreements are contemplated and what impact a discontinuance of or reduction in billing would have on the telecommunications industry. Panelists: E. E. (Stub) Estey, Government Affairs - Vice President, AT&T Corp., Washington, DC Ronald F. Evans, Vice President - Operations, OAN Services, Inc., Van Nuys, CA Ray Lawton, Associate Director for Telecommunications, National Regulatory Research Institute, Columbus, OH Steve Merrill, Assistant Vice President, WinStar Communications, Washington, DC Gregg Sayre, General Attorney, Rochester Telephone Corp., Rochester, NY Moderator: John Muleta, Chief, Enforcement Division, Common Carrier Bureau 10:30 - 10:45 Break 10:45 - 12:15 Panel 2: Protecting the Integrity of the LEC Billing System. This panel will address the measures that are or must be taken to ensure that the charges billed to subscribers are accurate. Panelists may consider the steps that are taken to ensure accuracy of billing data before the data are sent to the LECs, measures taken thereafter to ensure accuracy, and potential government or LEC actions regarding companies suspected of providing inaccurate billing data. Panelists: Charlie Donaldson, Assistant Attorney General, State of New York, New York, NY Michael Polandick, Director - Product Development, Consumer Markets, MCI Telecommunications Corp., Arlington, VA Alan Taylor, Chief of Service Evaluation, Florida Public Service Commission, Tallahassee, FL Christine Van Skyhock, Product Manager, GTE Telephone, Irving, TX Moderator: John Muleta, Chief, Enforcement Division, Common Carrier Bureau 12:15 - 1:30 Break 1:30 - 3:15 Panel 3: The Importance of Implementing Consumer Safeguards When LECs Bill for Other Businesses. This panel will address the actions that LECs and government agencies have taken or should take to ensure that consumers receive bills that clearly describe the services for which they are charged and their right to dispute the charges and/or have them removed from the bill. Panelists will describe other safeguards that now or should exist regarding potentially deceptive or abusive practices. Panelists: Porter Childers, Executive Director - Accounting and Financial Matters, United States Telephone Association, Washington, DC Adam Cohn, Attorney, Federal Trade Commission, Washington, DC David J. Gilles, Assistant Attorney General, State of Wisconsin, Madison, WI Kim Williams, Area Manager - Product Management, Southwestern Bell Telephone Co., St. Louis, MO Lionel Wilson, Assistant General Counsel, California Public Utilities Commission, San Francisco, CA Moderator: Robert Spangler, Deputy Chief, Enforcement Division, Common Carrier Bureau 3:15 - 3:30 Public Comments and Closing Note: Each panelist will give a short presentation on the panel subject. The moderator will ask questions at the end of all presentations, and the public thereafter will be invited to ask questions of panelists as time permits. For further information contact: Robert W. Spangler at (202) 418-0700 News media contact: Rochelle Cohen at (202) 418-0253