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Before the 
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20554
          
In the Matter of     )
          )
Implementation of the                )     CC Docket No. 96-128
Pay Telephone Reclassification       )
and Compensation Provisions of the   )
Telecommunications Act of 1996       )
          )
          
ORDER  

     Adopted:   December 31, 1997    Released:   December 31, 1997

By the Acting Chief, Enforcement Division, Common Carrier Bureau:

I.  BACKGROUND 
          
                       1.   On October 9, 1997, the Commission adopted a Second Report and Order that
established $0.284 as the default per-call compensation rate for subscriber 800 and access code
calls, and 0+ and inmate calls, made from payphones for the two-year period beginning
October 7, 1997.  Notice of the Second Report and Order appeared in the Federal Register on
October 30, 1997. On December 1, 1997, parties filed eleven petitions for reconsideration of
the Second Report and Order.  Notice of the petitions for reconsideration appeared in the Federal
Register on December 23, 1997.  Oppositions to the petitions for reconsideration are due
January 7, 1998, and replies to oppositions are due ten days thereafter, on January 20, 1998.

     2.   On December 24, 1997, American Public Communications Council ("APCC")
filed a motion for an extension of the page-limit for oppositions and replies to oppositions.  
APCC moved that the Commission extend the page limit for oppositions from 25 pages to 50
pages, and for replies to oppositions from 10 pages to 25 pages.  

     3.   APCC states as its reasons the fact that eleven is an unusually high number of
petitions for reconsideration, and that the petitions pose a large number of issues.  APCC states,
moreover, that it can more efficiently address the petitions and issues in a single longer
document, rather than in eleven shorter documents.  The Commission has received no
opposition to APCC's motion. 
                                     
                              II.  DISCUSSION

     4.   Our rules state that oppositions to petitions for reconsideration shall be limited to
25 double-spaced typewritten pages, and that replies to the oppositions shall be limited to ten
double-spaced typewritten pages.

     5.   APCC, however, has presented good reasons to extend these page limits in the
current proceeding.  A large number of petitions for reconsideration have been filed, and those
petitions present a wide range of issues.  Extending the page length of the oppositions and
replies to oppositions will encourage parties to consolidate their responses into a fewer number
of documents than might otherwise be required.  Such efficiency and economy are in the interest
of the parties to this proceeding, the Commission and the public. 

     6.   Awaiting the period permitted by our rules for the filing of oppositions to a
motion is impractical in this instance, given the proximity of the January 7, 1998, filing deadline
for oppositions to the petitions for reconsideration.  Therefore, pursuant to Section 1.45(e) of
our rules, for good cause shown, we grant this motion, effective immediately.   

III.  ORDERING CLAUSE

     7.   Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to Section 4(i) of the Communications
Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C.  154(i), and Sections 1.3, 1.45(e) and 1.429 of the
Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R.  1.3, 1.45(e), 1.429, and the authority delegated under
Sections 0.91 and 0.291 of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R.  0.91, 0.291, that, effective
immediately, the motion to extend the page length of the oppositions to petitions for
reconsideration of the Second Report and Order to 50 pages, and to extend the page length of
the replies to oppositions to petitions for reconsideration to 25 pages, IS GRANTED.


                           FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
     

                           
          Robert W. Spangler
          Acting Chief, Enforcement Division
          Common Carrier Bureau