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 Federal  Communications  Commission  DA  01-  480 
 Before  the  Federal  Communications  Commission 
 Washington,  D.  C.  20554 
 In  the  Matter  of  )  ) 
 Deployment  of  Wireline  Services  Offering  )  CC  Docket  No.  98-  147  Advanced  Telecommunications  Capability  ) 
 )  and  ) 
 )  Implementation  of  the  Local  Competition  )  CC  Docket  No.  96-  98 
 Provisions  of  the  )  Telecommunications  Act  of  1996  ) 


 ORDER  CLARIFICATION 
 Adopted:  February  22,  2001  Released:  February  23,  2001 
 By  the  Chief,  Common  Carrier  Bureau: 
 1.  On  January  19,  2001,  the  Commission  released  the  Line  Sharing  Reconsideration 
 Order,  responding  to  five  petitions  for  reconsideration  and/  or  clarification  of  the  Commission’s 
 Line  Sharing  Order,  which  required  incumbent  local  exchange  carriers  (LECs)  to  make  the  high 
 frequency  portion  of  the  loop  available  to  competing  providers  of  advanced  services.  1  In  this 
 Order,  we  clarify  that  the  Line  Sharing  Reconsideration  Order  in  no  way  modified  the  criteria  set 
 forth  in  the  Commission’s  UNE  Remand  Order  regarding  the  unbundling  of  packet  switching 
 functionality.  2  Specifically,  we  clarify  that  the  Line  Sharing  Reconsideration  Order  does  not 
 alter  section  51.319(  b)(  5)  of  the  Commission’s  rules,  which  describes  the  limited  set  of 
 circumstances  under  which  an  incumbent  LEC  is  required  to  provide  nondiscriminatory  access  to 
 unbundled  packet  switching  capability.  3 


 2.  Nonetheless,  we  note  that  in  the  Further  Notice  of  Proposed  Rulemaking  that 
 accompanied  the  Line  Sharing  Reconsideration  Order,  the  Commission  expressly  sought 
 comment  on  whether  its  existing  packet  switching  rules  are  adequate  to  enable  competitors  to 


 1  Deployment  of  Wireline  Services  Offering  Advanced  Telecommunications  Capability  and  Implementation  of  the 
 Local  Competition  Provisions  of  the  Telecommunications  Act  of  1996,  Third  Report  and  Order  on  Reconsideration 
 in  CC  Docket  No.  98-  147,  Fourth  Report  and  Order  on  Reconsideration  in  CC  Docket  No.  96-  98,  Third  Further 
 Notice  of  Proposed  Rulemaking  in  CC  Docket  No.  98-  147,  Sixth  Further  Notice  of  Proposed  Rulemaking  in  CC 
 Docket  No.  96-  98,  FCC  01-  26  (rel.  Jan.  19,  2001)  (Line  Sharing  Reconsideration  Order). 


 2  Implementation  of  the  Local  Competition  Provisions  of  the  Telecommunications  Act  of  1996,  CC  Docket  No.  96- 
 98,  Third  Report  and  Order,  15  FCC  Rcd  3696  (1999)  (UNE  Remand  Order). 


 3  47  C.  F.  R.  §  51.  319(  b)(  5). 
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 Federal  Communications  Commission  DA  01-  480 
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 line  share  when  there  is  fiber  deployed  in  the  loop.  4  Consequently,  we  encourage  commenters  to 
 discuss  this  issue  in  response  to  the  Further  Notice  of  Proposed  Rulemaking. 


 3.  Accordingly,  IT  IS  ORDERED  that  pursuant  to  authority  contained  in  sections  1- 
 4,  201,  202,  251-  254,  256,  271,  and  303(  r)  of  the  Communications  Act  of  1934,  as  amended,  47 
 U.  S.  C.  §§  151,  153,  154,  201-  205,  251,  252,  256,  271,  303(  r),  and  authority  delegated  under 
 sections  0.91  and  0.291  of  the  Commission’s  rules,  47  C.  F.  R.  §§  0.  91  and  0.291,  that  the 
 Commission  clarifies  the  Line  Sharing  Reconsideration  Order  as  set  out  above. 


 FEDERAL  COMMUNICATIONS  COMMISSION 


 Dorothy  T.  Attwood 
 Chief,  Common  Carrier  Bureau 


 4  Line  Sharing  Reconsideration  Order  at  para.  64. 
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