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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
Amendment of the Commission's Rules to) WT Docket No. 96-162
Establish Competitive Service Safeguards for)
Local Exchange Carrier Provision of )
Commercial Mobile Radio Services )
)
Implementation of Section 601(d) of the )
Telecommunications Act of 1996 )
ORDER
Adopted: October 24, 1997 Released: October 27, 1997
By the Commission:
1. On October 3, 1997, we released a Report and Order in this proceeding (CMRS
Safeguards Order) establishing regulatory safeguards for the provision of broadband commercial
mobile radio services (CMRS) by incumbent local exchange carriers (incumbent LECs) and their
affiliates. Pursuant to Section 1.108 of the Commission's rules, we clarify the CMRS Safeguards
Order on our own motion with respect to the requirements that govern the provision of customer
proprietary network information (CPNI) by incumbent LECs to their CMRS affiliates.
2. Section 222 of the Communications Act of 1934 (Act), which was added by the
Telecommunications Act of 1996 (1996 Act), governs the use of CPNI by telecommunications
carriers. Specifically, Section 222(c)(1) provides that "a telecommunications carrier that receives or
obtains customer proprietary network information by virtue of its provision of a telecommunications
service shall only use, disclose, or permit access to individually identifiable customer proprietary
network information in its provision of (A) the telecommunications service from which such
information is derived, or (B) services necessary to, or used in, the provision of such
telecommunications service, including the publishing of directories." Section 222(c)(2) provides that,
"[a] telecommunications carrier shall disclose customer proprietary network information, upon
affirmative written request by the customer, to any person designated by the customer." Section
222(c)(3) allows a local exchange carrier to use, disclose, or permit access to aggregate customer
information for purposes other than those described in Section 222(c)(1) only if the LEC provides
such information to other carriers or persons on reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms and
conditions upon reasonable request. Section 222 became effective upon passage of the 1996 Act.
3. Subsequent to the passage of the 1996 Act several parties requested the Commission
conduct a rulemaking to implement Section 222. In light of those requests, we issued a Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking in CC Docket No. 96-115 (CPNI NPRM) to consider whether we need to adopt
regulations to specify in more detail and clarify the obligations of telecommunications carriers with
respect to the use and protection of CPNI and other customer information. In the CPNI NPRM, we
concluded that the 1996 Act does not prohibit the Commission from enforcing existing CPNI
requirements that are not inconsistent with Section 222, since nothing in the 1996 Act affects those
requirements. That proceeding is still pending.
4. In the CMRS Safeguards Order, we addressed the issue of whether to retain Section
22.903(f) of the Commission's rules which currently governs the provision of CPNI by a Bell
Operating Company (BOC) to its cellular affiliates. That section states that BOCs must not
provide to their cellular separate affiliate any customer proprietary information, unless such
information is publicly available on the same terms and conditions. In the CMRS Safeguards Order,
we deferred consideration of any new requirements for the incumbent LEC provision of CPNI to their
CMRS affiliates pending the completion of the proceeding in CC Docket No. 96-115. Consequently,
we retained Section 22.903(f) as it is and did not expand it to either all CMRS or to LECs other than
the BOCs, as some parties had requested. We also stated that we will take appropriate action
regarding Section 22.903(f) upon resolution of the proceeding in CC Docket No. 96-115.
5. In this Order we clarify the requirements that govern the provision of CPNI by
incumbent LECs to their CMRS affiliates during the pendency of the proceeding in CC Docket No.
96-115. As described above, Section 222 provides general requirements regarding a
telecommunications carrier's use, disclosure and permission of access to CPNI. Consequently, the
requirements of Section 222 are applicable to the provision of CPNI by all incumbent LECs to their
CMRS affiliates. Specifically, we expect all incumbent LECs and their CMRS affiliates to comply
with the limitations on use, disclosure, and access to CPNI set forth in Section 222(c) in their
provision of CMRS and LEC services respectively. Further, we expect BOCs to continue to comply
with Section 22.903(f) of the Commission's rules with respect to BOC provision of CPNI to their
cellular affiliates.
6. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that, pursuant to Sections 4(i) and 303(r) of the
Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 154(i), 303(r), and pursuant to Section
1.108 of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R. 1.108, the Commission clarifies its decision in the
Report and Order on its own motion to the extent specified herein.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
William F. Caton
Acting Secretary