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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-  2465 
 October  29,  2001 


 TELECOMMUNICATIONS  CARRIER  REGISTRATION  INFORMATION  NOW  AVAILABLE  ONLINE. 


 The  FCC’s  Consumer  Information  Bureau  (CIB)  announces  that  telecommunications 
 carrier  registration  information  will  now  be  available  to  the  public  online  at 
 http://  gullfoss2.  fcc.  gov/  cib/  form499/  499a.  cfm.  This  will  make  it  easier  for  consumers  and 
 carriers  to  access  pertinent  contact  and/  or  background  information  on  telecommunications 
 carriers  that  they  are,  or  will  be,  doing  business  with.  Specifically,  consumers  and  carriers  will 
 now  be  able  to  view  such  things  as  the  carrier’s  business  name(  s)  and  primary  address(  es),  names 
 and  business  addresses  of  certain  of  the  carrier’s  officers,  the  carrier’s  regulatory  contact  and/  or 
 designated  agent  for  service  of  process,  all  names  under  which  the  carrier  has  conducted  business 
 in  the  past,  and  the  state(  s)  in  which  the  carrier  is  certified  to  provide  telecommunications 
 service. 


 Currently,  all  new  and  existing  telecommunications  carriers  providing  interstate 
 telecommunications  service  are  required  to  file  FCC  Form  499-  A  in  April  of  each  year.  The 
 registration  information  is  collected  on  behalf  of  the  FCC  by  the  National  Exchange  Carrier 
 Association  (“  NECA”).  Among  other  things,  this  registration  requirement  enables  the 
 Commission  to  (1)  monitor  the  entry  of  carriers  into  the  interstate  telecommunications 
 marketplace,  (2)  keep  entities  that  are  unqualified  from  entering  or  remaining  in  the 
 telecommunications  marketplace,  and  (3)  have  a  means  of  tracking  and  contacting  carriers  that 
 may  be  engaged  in  “slamming,”  the  illegal  practice  of  changing  a  consumer’s  telephone  service 
 without  permission. 


 FOR  ADDITIONAL  INFORMATION  CONTACT:  Brock  Fekken,  Consumer  Information  Bureau  (Gettysburg),  717-  338-  2725,  E-  mail:  bfekken@  fcc.  gov  or  James  Lande, 


 Enforcement  Bureau,  202-  418-  0948,  E-  mail:  jlande@  fcc.  gov,  FCC,  445  12  th  Street,  SW, 
 Washington,  D.  C.  20554. 


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