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 Federal  Communications  Commission  DA  01-  1656 
 Before  the  Federal  Communications  Commission 
 Washington,  D.  C.  20554 


 In  the  Matter  of  )  ) 
 Petition  of  Mpower  Communications  Corp.  for  )  CC  Docket  No.  01-  117  Establishment  of  New  Flexible  Contract  ) 
 Mechanism  Not  Subject  to  “Pick  and  Choose”  )  ) 


 ORDER 
 Adopted:  July  12,  2001  Released:  July  13,  2001 
 By  the  Chief,  Policy  and  Program  Planning  Division: 


 1.  On  June  4,  2001,  the  Commission  released  a  Public  Notice  in  CC  Docket  No.  01-  117 
 establishing  the  pleading  cycle  for  comments  on  the  petition  filed  by  Mpower  Communications 
 Corp.  (Mpower).  1  Among  other  things,  Mpower  requests  that  the  Commission  forbear  from 
 application  and  enforcement  of  section  252(  e),  (i)  of  the  Communications  Act  of  1934,  as 
 amended.  The  Public  Notice  required  parties  to  file  comments  on  or  before  July  3,  2001  and 
 reply  comments  on  or  before  July  18,  2001. 


 2.  On  June  14,  2001,  Mpower  filed  a  Motion  for  Extension  of  Time  to  extend  the  date 
 for  reply  comments  by  16  days  to  August  3,  2001.  According  to  Mpower,  this  extension  is 
 necessary  to  afford  it  an  adequate  opportunity  to  analyze  and  respond  to  comments  on  the 
 "complex  issues  of  first  impression"  raised  in  its  petition.  2 


 3.  It  is  the  policy  of  the  Commission  that  extensions  of  time  are  not  routinely  granted.  3 
 In  the  past,  the  Commission  has  granted  such  extensions  when,  among  other  things,  comments 
 proved  to  be  voluminous,  the  parties  would  not  have  sufficient  time  to  analyze  and  respond  to 
 comments,  or  the  filings  raise  complex  substantive  matters.  In  the  instant  proceeding,  we  note 
 that  the  number  of  comments  were  relatively  few  and,  without  exception,  brief.  Moreover,  while 
 we  agree  with  Mpower  that  its  petition  raises  novel  issues,  we  do  not  think  that  the  level  of 
 complexity  contained  in  the  July  3  comments  warrants  its  requested  extension.  Upon 


 review  of  the  filed  comments  in  this  docket,  we  find  therefore,  that  providing  the  petitioner  and 
 others  approximately  two  weeks  to  respond  is  a  sufficient  amount  of  time  to  meet  this  goal. 


 1  Pleading  Cycle  Established  for  Comments  on  Mpower  Petition  for  Forbearance  and  Rulemaking,  Public  Notice, 
 DA  01-  1348  (June  4,  2001).  2 
 Motion  for  Extension  of  Time  filed  by  Mpower  Communications  Corp.,  CC  Docket  No.  01-  117  (filed  June  14, 
 2001).  3 
 See  47  C.  F.  R.  †  1.46(  a). 
1
 Federal  Communications  Commission 
 2 
 4.  Accordingly,  IT  IS  ORDERED  that  Mpower's  Motion  for  Extension  of  Time  IS 
 DENIED. 


 5.  IT  IS  FURTHER  ORDERED  that  this  action  is  taken  pursuant  to  authority  found  in 
 section  4(  i)  and  303(  r)  of  the  Communications  Act  of  1934,  as  amended,  47  U.  S.  C.  §§  154(  i), 
 303(  r),  and  sections  0.291  and  1.46  of  the  Commission's  rules,  47  C.  F.  R.  §§  0.291,  1.46. 


 FEDERAL  COMMUNICATIONS  COMMISSION 
 Michelle  M.  Carey 
 Chief,  Policy  and  Program  Planning  Division 
 Common  Carrier  Bureau 
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