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| FCC | RIN: 3060-AG49 | Publication ID: Fall 2008 |
| Title: Access Charge Reform | |
| Abstract: On December 24, 1996, the Commission initiated a rulemaking to revise its access charge rules to make them compatible with a competitive market envisioned by the Telecommunications Act of 1996. On May 7, 1997, in the Access Charge Reform Order, the Commission adopted revised access charge rate structure rules and adjusted the price cap productivity factor. The Commission also adopted a market-based approach to reducing overall access charge levels and moving such levels toward forward-looking economic costs. On July 10, 1997, on its own motion, and on October 9, 1997, in response to reconsideration petitions, the Commission revised or clarified certain parts of the rules adopted in the May 1997 Access Charge Reform Order. Reconsideration petitions filed in response to the Access Charge Reform Order, if not yet addressed, will be addressed in future reconsideration orders. On November 26, 1997, in the General Support Facilities Order, the Commission adopted rules requiring price cap carriers to adjust the allocation of General Support Facilities costs and to reduce their price cap indices to ensure that regulated access rates do not recover those costs which are related to nonregulated services. Reconsideration petitions filed in response to the November 1997 General Support Facilities Order were withdrawn and the reconsideration proceeding was terminated effective September 9, 2004. On May 27, 1999, the Commission initiated a further rulemaking, seeking comment on how to adjust interstate access charges in conjunction with the removal from access charges of implicit universal service support for non-rural local exchange carriers. On August 5, 1999, the Commission adopted rules implementing the market-based approach to access charge reform, pursuant to which incumbent price cap local exchange carriers receive progressively greater pricing flexibility as competition develops. The Commission also initiated a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, seeking comment on additional pricing flexibility, proposed changes to the rate structure for local switching and tandem-switched transport, and the need to constrain access charges imposed by competitive local exchange carriers. On April 26, 2001, the Commission adopted rules governing competitive local exchange carrier (LEC) access charges in the CLEC Access Charge Order. Specifically, the Commission limited to a declining benchmark the amounts that competitive LECs may tariff for interstate access services, restricted the interstate access rates of competitive LECs entering new markets to the rates of the competing incumbent LEC, and established a rural exemption permitting qualifying carriers to charge rates above the benchmark for their interstate access services. On May 31, 2000, in the CALLS Order, the Commission adopted an industry proposal (the CALLS Proposal) establishing a 5-year plan for price cap local exchange carriers and resolving many outstanding issues concerning interstate access charges and interstate universal service. On April 27, 2001, the Commission revised its tariff rules to establish benchmark access rates for competitive local exchange carriers, whereby access rates at or below the benchmark will be presumed just and reasonable and may be imposed by tariff, and access rates above the benchmark will be mandatorily detariffed. The Commission adopted a rural exemption to this benchmark scheme, recognizing that a higher level of access charges is justified for certain carriers serving rural areas. On May 21, 2001, the Commission determined that price cap local exchange carriers should not be permitted to assess prescribed interexchange carrier charges on special access lines. On June 4, 2002, the Commission concluded a cost review proceeding in which it determined that price cap carriers' forward-looking costs justified scheduled increases to the subscriber line charge cap. On June 24, 2003, in response to a petition for reconsideration, the Commission adopted a rule exempting payphone lines from the presubscribed interexchange carrier charge (PICC). On July 10, 2003, in response to a remand by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the Commission released an order reaffirming two aspects of the CALLS Order: the sizing of the interstate access universal service support mechanism at $650 million, and the adoption of a 6.5 percent X-factor. On May 18, 2004, the Commission released an order that denied seven petitions for reconsideration of the CLEC Access Charge Order, clarified application of the CLEC access charge rules in several respects, and allowed originating 8YY traffic to be governed by the same declining benchmark as other competitive LEC interstate access traffic. On March 5, 2007, the Wireline Competition Bureau (the Bureau) released a Public Notice inviting interested parties to update the record pertaining to petitions for reconsideration filed with respect to the rules the Commission adopted in the CALLS Order. Specifically, the Bureau requested that parties that filed petitions for reconsideration of the CALLS Order file a supplemental notice indicating those issues that they still wish to be reconsidered. The only remaining petition for reconsideration was that filed by Pathfinder. No other notices were received in response to the request to update the record pertaining to petitions for reconsideration. The Pathfinder petition for reconsideration was dismissed as moot on July 3, 2007. | |
| Agency: Federal Communications Commission(FCC) | Priority: Substantive, Nonsignificant |
| RIN Status: Previously published in the Unified Agenda | Agenda Stage of Rulemaking: Long-Term Actions |
| Major: No | Unfunded Mandates: No |
| CFR Citation: 47 CFR 61.41 to 61.49 47 CFR 69 | |
| Legal Authority: 47 USC 151 47 USC 154(i) to 154(j) 47 USC 201 to 205 47 USC 403 47 USC 553 | |
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Legal Deadline:
None |
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Timetable:
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| Regulatory Flexibility Analysis Required: Undetermined | Government Levels Affected: None |
| Included in the Regulatory Plan: No | |
| RIN Data Printed in the FR: No | |
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Agency Contact: Victoria Goldberg Attorney-Advisor Federal Communications Commission Wireline Competition Bureau, 45 L Street NE, Washington, DC 20554 Phone:202 418-7353 Email: victoria.goldberg@fcc.gov |
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