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 PUBLIC  NOTICE  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12  th  St.,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  News  Media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  Fax-  On-  Demand  202  /  418-  2830  TTY  202  /  418-  2555  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  ftp  fcc  gov 
 DA  01-  1485  Released:  June  22,  2001 
 COMMON  CARRIER  BUREAU  ANNOUNCES  THAT  THE  COMMISSION  WILL  NO  LONGER  ACCEPT  APPLICATIONS  FOR 
 PART  68  CERTIFICATION  AND  PETITIONS  FOR  WAIVER  OF  PART  68  TECHNICAL  CRITERIA 


 Pursuant  to  In  the  Matter  of  2000  Biennial  Regulatory  Review  of  Part  68  of  the 
 Commission’s  Rules  and  Regulations,  CC  Docket  99-  216,  Report  and  Order,  FCC  00-  400,  66 
 FR  7579  (January  24,  2001)  (Order),  the  Commission  will  no  longer  accept  applications  for 
 certification  of  terminal  equipment  under  47  C.  F.  R.  Part  68  as  of  July  23,  2001.  Also,  petitions 
 for  waiver  of  the  Part  68  rules  that  were  eliminated  in  the  Order,  including  those  pertaining  to 
 the  Commission’s  streamlined  waiver  process  for  stutter  dial  tone  (section  68.312(  i))  and 
 ADSL/  RADSL  terminal  equipment  (section  68.308(  e)(  1)),  should  no  longer  be  filed  with  the 
 Commission  after  July  23,  2001.  As  of  July  23,  2001,  parties  seeking  to  request  exceptions  or 
 interim  criteria  for  their  terminal  equipment  that  does  not  meet  the  published  technical  criteria 
 should  contact  the  Administrative  Council  for  Terminal  Attachments  (ACTA).  The 
 Commission’s  rules  pertaining  to  hearing  aid  compatibility  and  volume  control  are  not  affected 
 by  this  action. 


 The  ACTA,  established  by  the  Commission  in  the  Order,  is  responsible  for  establishing  and 
 maintaining  a  database  of  equipment  found  to  be  compliant  with  industry-  established  technical 
 criteria,  establishing  numbering  and  labeling  requirements,  and  establishing  filing  requirements 
 for  certification. 


 The  Order  requires  certification  of  terminal  equipment  by  one  of  two  methods.  The  first 
 method,  which  is  currently  available  to  applicants,  is  certification  by  a  Telecommunication 
 Certification  Body  (TCB).  Once  ACTA  establishes  filing  requirements  for  TCBs  and  so  notifies 
 them,  TCBs  must  send  their  certificates  to  ACTA's  designated  receiver.  Until  that  time,  TCBs 
 may  continue  to  send  their  certificates  to  the  Commission. 


 Once  ACTA  establishes  the  supporting  database,  numbering  and  labeling  requirements,  and 
 data  filing  requirements,  the  second  method,  self-  declaration  of  conformity  (SDoC)  certification, 
 will  be  available  to  terminal  equipment  suppliers.  At  that  time,  suppliers  declaring  conformity 
 may  send  required  data  to  ACTA's  designated  receiver.  Parties  seeking  information  on  the 
 SDoC  certification  method  may  contact  Tim  Jeffries,  (202)  662-  8669,  email:  tjeffries@  atis.  org. 
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 For  further  information  about  this  Notice,  please  contact  Bill  Howden  at  (202)  418-  2343, 
 email:  whowden@  fcc.  gov  or  Susan  Magnotti  at  (202)  418-  0871,  email:  smagnott@  fcc.  gov  . 
 TTY:  (202)  418-  0484. 


 -FEDERAL  COMMUNICATIONS  COMMISSION- 
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