******************************************************** NOTICE ******************************************************** This document was converted from WordPerfect to ASCII Text format. Content from the original version of the document such as headers, footers, footnotes, endnotes, graphics, and page numbers will not show up in this text version. All text attributes such as bold, italic, underlining, etc. from the original document will not show up in this text version. Features of the original document layout such as columns, tables, line and letter spacing, pagination, and margins will not be preserved in the text version. If you need the complete document, download the WordPerfect version or Adobe Acrobat version, if available. ***************************************************************** Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Washington, D.C. DA 97-1646 In the Matter of ) ) Policies and Rules Concerning) Operator Service Access and) Pay Telephone Compensation)CC Docket No. 91-35 ) Petitions Pertaining to Originating)CCB/CPD File No. 96-18 Line Screening Services) MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER Adopted: July 31, 1997; Released: July 31, 1997 By the Chief, Competitive Pricing Division, Common Carrier Bureau: I. INTRODUCTION 1. In this Memorandum Opinion and Order, we grant requests by various local exchange carriers (LECs) to extend the deadline for filing federal tariffs offering enhanced originating line screening service (OLS) under applicable Commission Orders. Specifically, we grant the Southern New England Telephone Company (SNET) and eight members of the National Exchange Carrier Association extensions to December 1, 1997. We also grant extensions to October 1, 1997, to 78 carriers identified by Illuminet, Inc. (Illuminet). II. WAIVER REQUESTS AND COMMENTS 2. On July 14, 1997, SNET filed a petition for expedited waiver of the requirement established in the December Order that SNET and other LECs file federal tariffs offering OLS service on or before August 1, 1997. In its petition, SNET asserts that it will not be able to make OLS service available under its federal tariff until March 31, 1998, because it devoted extensive resources earlier this year to other major proceedings such as the Commission's payphone proceeding and because of other activities including modification of SNET's network and related systems to enable new carriers to compete with AT&T for coin traffic, expansion of Feature Group D Carrier Identification Codes, as well as other projects arising from state resale and unbundling mandates. Also, SNET asserts that necessary software modifications to its DBAS II system will not be completed until mid-September 1997, and that necessary changes to its service order processing system cannot be accomplished until late in 1997. SNET states that a deferral until March 1998 would enable it to devote its limited personnel resources to implementation of the extensive structure and pricing changes ordered in the Commission's access reform proceeding which changes SNET states must be completed by year end. SNET contends no harm would result from its requested extension because SNET has received only limited customer interest in OLS service and no bona fide requests for such service. 3. In its comments on SNET's petition, NECA contends that SNET has demonstrated sufficient grounds for waiver of its August 1 OLS service deadline. NECA also states that eight of its member companies obtain LIDB services from SNET and that, as a result, their ability to implement LIDB-based OLS services by August 1, 1997, will be adversely impacted by SNET's prospective inability to make OLS service available through LIDB by that date. NECA asks the Commission to include them in any extensions of the OLS service requirement that SNET might be granted. 4. NEPCC, a trade association representing independent payphone providers, opposes SNET's petition. NEPCC asserts that the availability of OLS service from SNET and other LECs is important to the ability of other carriers to identify calls from privately owned payphones and from other categories of aggregator locations and that OLS service is important to tracking calls for the purpose of compensating payphone providers for handling dial-around calls, i.e., payphone calls that do not involve the presubscribed carrier. For these reasons, NEPCC declares that there may be a need for SNET to provide OLS service before the expiration of SNET's requested extension period. NEPCC also states that any SNET payphone subsidy or other affiliate should not have access to OLS service while such service is being denied to independent payphone providers in Connecticut. NEPCC urges that any waiver be conditioned on SNET's denial of OLS service or equivalent central office- based services to any payphone operated by SNET or any subsidiary or affiliate of SNET until such time as that service is fully available to independent payphone providers. Also, in the event SNET secures a waiver, NEPCC asked that any such waiver be granted only though the effective date of per call compensation under applicable Commission orders. 5. On behalf of 78 companies that use Illuminet as their LIDB provider and that have elected to offer LIDB-based OLS service through LIDB, Illuminet seeks an extension until October 1, 1997, to provide OLS service. Illuminet contends that it adopted an expedited program to develop and implement LIDB-based OLS service and that it was diligently working toward implementation of that service on or before August 1, 1997. It states that during the week of July 21, 1997, it encountered problems in loading of the data to be utilized by its LIDB system for provision of OLS service. Illuminet claims that the existence of these problems could not have been identified prior to the transition to "on-line" testing during that week and that, absent further software modifications, its LIDB-based OLS service cannot be implemented by August 1, 1997, with assurance that it will provide appropriate information to OLS subscribers or that it will not disrupt other ongoing LIDB- based network services. Neither carriers nor their customers would be harmed by such an extension because, according to Illuminet, it has not received any requests for access to OLS data. III. DISCUSSION 6. We conclude that good cause has been shown by requesting parties for an extension of the August 1, 1997, filing date that will permit them to address the technical issues raised in their petitions. Given that the necessary modifications to SNET's DBAS II system may be completed as early as mid-September 1997, we conclude that an extension to and through December 1, 1997, will afford it a reasonable opportunity to address these issues while not unduly delaying the provision of OLS service. SNET's generalized allegations of personnel difficulties and its statement of other responsibilities do not persuade us that a longer extension is warranted. In light of their reliance on SNET for LIDB-OLS, we grant a similar extension to the eight LECs listed in NECA's comments on SNET's Petition. 7. We also conclude that the requested extension to October 1, 1997, is justified for the 78 companies identified by Illuminet. As Illuminet explains, each of these LECs earlier determined not to employ FlexANI to make OLS service available and each has, instead, requested that Illuminet provide such services through LIDB. The requested extension will permit Illuminet to address the technical issues it raises without unduly delaying the provision of OLS service by these companies. 8. We remind SNET and other LECs that they remain subject to the Commission's requirements in the Payphone Order and the Payphone Reconsideration Order and, accordingly, may not discriminate in the provision of OLS or other services in favor of any payphone subsidiary or otherwise affiliated payphone company. Also, the extensions granted today do not alter or otherwise modify any obligations of these or other LECs under the Commission's Payphone Order and the Payphone Reconsideration Order. 9. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, that the Petition for Expedited Waiver filed by the Southern New England Telephone Company on July 14, 1997 in this proceeding IS GRANTED to the extent discussed above and is otherwise DENIED. 10. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the July 28, 1997, request of the National Exchange Carrier Association, on behalf of eight of its member companies, for waiver of the August 1, 1997, deadline to offer enhanced originating line screening service under federal tariff IS GRANTED. 11. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the July 29, 1997, request of Illuminet, Inc., on behalf of 78 companies, for waiver of the August 1, 1997, deadline to offer enhanced originating line screening service under federal tariff IS GRANTED. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION James D. Schlichting Chief, Competitive Pricing Division, Common Carrier Bureau APPENDIX A.LECs Requesting LIDB-based OLS Service From Illuminet Armstrong Telephone Company, of Maryland Armstrong Telephone Company, of New York Armstrong Telephone Company, of Pennsylvania Armstrong Telephone Company, of West Virginia Armstrong Telephone Company, of Northern Division Armstrong Telephone Company North Arlington Telephone Company Armour Independent Telephone Company Bear Lake Communications, Inc. Big Sandy Telecom, Inc. Blair Telephone Company Bridgewater-Canistota Independent Telephone Company Buggs Island Telephone Cooperative Cambridge Telephone Company Cameron Telephone Company Cassadaga Telephone Corporation Central Utah Telephone Company, Inc. The Chillicothe Telephone Company Clifton Forge-Waynesboro Telephone Company Columbus Telephone Company Community Telephone Company, Inc. Coon Creek Telephone Company Cooperative Telephone Company Dell Telephone Cooperative, Inc. Dunbarton Telephone, Inc. Dunkirk and Fredonia Telephone Company EagleNet, Inc. Eastern Nebraska Telephone Company Elizabeth Telephone Company Evans Telephone Company Farmers Mutual Telephone Company Farmers Telephone, Inc. Florala Telephone Company, Inc. Ganado Telephone Company, Inc. Geneseo Telephone Company Gridley Telephone Company Griswold Cooperative Telephone Company Green Hills Telephone Corporation Gulf Telephone Company Hamilton Telephone Company Henry County Telephone Company The Home Telephone Company Ironton Telephone Company Kennebec Telephone Company, Inc. Knology Holdings, Inc. La Ward Telephone Exchange, Inc. Lackawaxen Telephone Company Lennon Telephone Company Livingston Telephone Company, Inc. Matanuska Telephone Association, Inc. Mid-Plains Rural Telephone Cooperative, Inc. Monroe Telephone Company Muenster Telephone Corporation of TX New Paris Telephone Company, Inc. Northeast Florida Telephone Company, Inc. Northeast Louisiana Telephone Company, Inc. Ogden Telephone Company Oran Mutual Telephone Company Oregon Telephone Corporation The Ottoville Mutual Telephone Company Panhandle Telephone Cooperative, Inc. Pembroke Telephone Company, Inc, Pulaski-White Rural Telephone Cooperative, Inc. Readlyn Telephone Company Richmond Telephone Company Rock County Telephone Company Sanborn Telephone Cooperative Sherwood Mutual Telephone Association, Inc. Skyline Telecom St. Joseph Telephone & Telegraph Company The Sycarnore Telephone Company Taconic Telephone Corp. Union River Telephone Company Union Telephone Company Wabash Mutual Telephone Company Waldron Telephone Company Wilkes Telephone & Electric Company Winnebago Cooperative Telephone Association B.LECs Listed by NECA as Relying on SNET for LIDB-based OLS Service China Telephone Co. Standish Telephone Co. Granite State Telephone Co. Woodbury Telephone Co. Fishers Island Telephone Co. Sidney Telephone Co. Maine Telephone Co. Pioneer Telephone Association, Inc.