*Pages 1--2 from Microsoft Word - 7211.doc* PUBLIC NOTICE Federal Communications Commission 445 12th 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- 548 Release: March 1, 2001 COMMON CARRIER BUREAU ANNOUNCES RELEASE OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS REPORTING WORKSHEET (FCC FORM 499- A) FOR APRIL 2, 2001 FILING BY ALL TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIERS CC Docket No. 98- 171 By this Public Notice, the Common Carrier Bureau (Bureau) announces the release of the revised Telecommunications Reporting Worksheet, FCC Form 499- A (" April 2001 Worksheet") and accompanying instructions. All contributors to the federal universal service support mechanisms, the TRS Fund, the cost recovery mechanism for numbering administration, and the cost recovery mechanism for the shared costs of local number portability must file the April 2001 Worksheet. 1 Contributors to these mechanisms include every telecommunications carrier providing interstate telecommunications and certain other providers of interstate telecommunications for a fee. Thus, all of these entities must complete and file the April 2001 Worksheet on or before April 2, 2001. Data filed on the April 2001 Worksheet will be used to calculate contributions to the universal service support mechanisms, as well as to the TRS Fund, the cost recovery for numbering administration, and the cost recovery for the shared costs of local number portability. More specifically, the April 2001 Worksheet sets forth the information that contributors must submit, so that the administrators can calculate individual contributions to these mechanisms, or in some cases, determine that an entity’s contribution responsibility is de minimis -- and thus the entity is exempt from direct contribution -- for the purposes of the universal service support mechanisms. Information filed on the April 2001 Worksheet will also be used to satisfy the Commission’s recently adopted registration requirement for new and existing carriers providing interstate telecommunications service. 2 On July 14, 1999, the Commission amended its rules so that contributors to the universal service support mechanisms, the TRS Fund, and the cost recovery mechanisms for numbering administration and local number portability need only file the Telecommunications Reporting Worksheet for the purpose of determining their contributions to these mechanisms. 3 As an attachment to that order, we released the initial 1 47 C. F. R. §§ 52.1( b), 52.32( b), 54.711( a), 64.604( c)( 4)( iii)( B). See also 47 C. F. R. § 1.47( h) (requiring every common carrier to file information concerning their designated agents pursuant to the Telecommunications Reporting Worksheet). 2 47 C. F. R. § 64.1195; see also Implementation of the Subscriber Carrier Selection Changes Provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Policies and Rules Concerning Unauthorized Changes of Consumers Long Distance Carriers, Order, FCC 01- 67, CC Docket No. 94- 129, ¶¶ 8- 13 (rel. Feb. 22, 2001) (Slamming Registration Order). 3 1998 Biennial Regulatory Review -- Streamlined Contributor Reporting Requirements Associated with Administration of Telecommunications Relay Services, North American Numbering Plan, Local Number 1 version of the Telecommunications Reporting Worksheet. In the Slamming Third Report and Order, the Commission concluded that all new and existing common carriers providing interstate telecommunications service must register with the Commission. 4 The Commission determined that this registration requirement will enable it to better monitor the entry of carriers into the interstate telecommunications market and any associated increases in slamming activity, and will also enhance its ability to take appropriate enforcement action against carriers that have demonstrated a pattern or practice of slamming. 5 The April 2001 Worksheet released today has been revised to collect the additional information required in the Slamming Third Report and Order. 6 Information filed on the Telecommunications Reporting Worksheets will be compiled and used to calculate contribution factors that will be used as the actual basis for contributions to these four support and cost recovery mechanisms. Contribution factors for each of the mechanisms will be announced by Public Notice. 7 The administrators will bill contributors directly based on the information filed in the April 2001 Worksheets and the publicly- released contribution factors. Payments must be made by the date listed on the administrators’ bills. Contributors must use the April 2001 Worksheet for their filings due on April 2, 2001. 8 Copies of the April 2001 Worksheet (FCC Form 499- A) and instructions may be downloaded from the Commission's Forms Web Page (www. fcc. gov/ formpage. html). Finally, copies may be obtained from NECA at (973) 560- 4400. For further information, contact Suzanne McCrary, Jim Lande or Scott Bergmann, Industry Analysis Division, Common Carrier Bureau, at (202) 418- 0940. Portability, and Universal Service Support Mechanisms, Report and Order, FCC 99- 175, CC Docket No. 98- 171 (rel. July 14, 1999) (Contributor Reporting Requirements Order) (also adopting an April version of the worksheet that will be used to calculate contributions to the TRS Fund and the cost recovery mechanisms for numbering administration and local number portability, as well as the universal service support mechanisms). Thus, all telecommunications carriers will file the April worksheet, whether or not they meet the de minimis threshold for purposes of contributing to the universal service support mechanisms. 4 Implementation of the Subscriber Carrier Selection Changes Provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Policies and Rules Concerning Unauthorized Changes of Consumers Long Distance Carriers, Order, FCC 00- 255, CC Docket No. 94- 129, ¶¶ 8- 13 (2000) (Slamming Third Report and Order); as amended and modified, Order, FCC 01- 67 (rel. Feb. 22, 2001). 5 Slamming Third Report and Order, at ¶ 62. 6 See Slamming Third Report and Order, ¶ 63 (deciding to revise FCC Form 499- A to include registration information). See also Contributor Reporting Requirements Order, ¶¶ 39- 40 (delegating authority to the Chief of the Common Carrier Bureau to make changes to the Telecommunications Reporting Worksheet). See also 47 C. R. R. §§ 52.17( b), 52.32( b), 54.711( c), 64.604( c)( 4)( iii)( B). 7 Contributions to the local number portability cost recovery mechanism are calculated by the local number portability administer. 8 FCC Form 499- A is typically filed on April 1 of each year. However, because April 1, 2001 falls on a Sunday, filers must file FCC Form 499 on or before April 2, 2001. Note also that all carriers must notify the FCC within one week if their D. C. Agent for Service of Process or Registration information changes. See 47 C. F. R. §§ 1.47, 64.1195. Any such carrier should report changes by completing and filing the relevant pages of the April 2001 Form 499- A, in accordance with the Instructions to the April 2001 Form 499- A. 2