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In the Report and Order, released on August 22, 2012, the Federal Communications Commission ("Commission") suspended, on an interim basis, the rules allowing for automatic pricing flexibility grants for special access services, pending adoption of new rules. The Report and Order also initiated a process to gather data needed to inform the process of developing new pricing flexibility rules. In 1999, the Commission's Pricing Flexibility Order created rules allowing for automatic grants of pricing flexibility for special access services in order to ensure that the Commission's price cap rules did not interfere with the development of competition in interstate access markets. The pricing flexibility rules are based on a proxy for measuring actual and potential competition in special access markets; specifically, a carrier can obtain pricing flexibility when it has made certain showings as to the extent of collocation by competitive carriers within a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The Report and Order reflects the Commission's determination that the pricing flexibility rules are not working as predicted in the Pricing Flexibility Order. First, the record demonstrates that MSAs are too large a geographic area to reflect accurately the scope of competitive special access market entry, which tends to occur on a more granular basis. Second, the record raises significant questions about whether collocation is a viable proxy for facilities-based special access competition.

In light of this evidence, the Report and Order suspends the special access pricing flexibility rules pending the adoption of more accurate proxies for competition in the special access market. Given the identified problems with the proxies, the Report and Order finds that it would be inappropriate to allow new grants of pricing flexibility under these rules; thus, the Commission suspended section 1.774(f)(1) of its rules, 47 CFR section 1.774(f)(1), which provides that petitions for pricing flexibility for special access services that are not denied within 90 days after the close of the pleading cycle are deemed granted by operation of law. In this Report and Order, the Commission also initiated a process to obtain data needed to conduct a special access market analysis. Based on the forthcoming data collection, the Commission will undertake a robust special access market analysis to determine the extent to which the special access market is competitive and develop special access pricing flexibility rules to replace the collocation-based competitive showings. On December 18, 2012, the Commission released a Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking calling for the mandatory collection of data from FCC-regulated entities that provide or purchase special access services in price cap areas. Larger entities that provide best efforts business broadband Internet access services are also required to respond to the data collection. With the data, the Commission will conduct a comprehensive analysis of the special access market to determine where relief from special access regulation is appropriate and otherwise update its rules to ensure that they reflect the state of competition today and promote competition.

The Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau released a Report and Order on September 18, 2013, finalizing the questions for the collection and providing instructions and clarifications.  On August 15, 2014, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved the data collection pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 subject to changes. On September 15, 2014, the Bureau released an Order on Reconsideration amending the collection to reflect the approval received from OMB and announcing a December 15, 2014, filing deadline for responses.

 In the Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that accompanied the 2012 Report and Order, the Commission sought comment on (1) a proposed market analysis for evaluating the collected data; (2) possible changes to the pricing flexibility rules for the special access services provided by incumbent Local Exchange Carriers (LECs) in price cap areas; and (3) the terms and conditions offered by incumbent LECs for the sale of special access services. Comments and reply comments on the market analysis and terms and conditions were due February 11 and March 12, 2013, respectively. Comments and reply comments on changes to the pricing flexibility rules are due April 6 and May 18, 2015, respectively.

On November 26, 2014, the Bureau extended this deadline until January 29, 2015, for large businesses submitting data that have more than 1,500 employees and until February 27, 2015, for small businesses submitting data that have 1,500 or fewer employees.