PUBLIC NOTICE Federal Communications Commission 445 12th St., S.W. Washington, D.C. 20554 News Media Information 202 / 418-0500 Internet: http://www.fcc.gov TTY: 1-888-835-5322 DA 14-1672 Released: November 20, 2014 WIRELINE COMPETITION BUREAU SEEKS COMMENT ON THE JOINT PETITION OF QWEST CORPORATION D/B/A CENTURYLINK QC AND WILLARD TELEPHONE COMPANY, INC. TO WAIVE THE DEFINITION OF “STUDY AREA” AS CODIFIED IN PART 36 OF THE COMMISSION’S RULES CC Docket No. 96-45 Comment Date: December 22, 2014 Reply Comment Date: January 6, 2015 The Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) seeks comment on the Qwest Corporation d/b/a CenturyLink QC (CenturyLink) and Willard Telephone Company, Inc. (Willard) (together, Petitioners) joint petition for waiver of the definition of “study area.”1 Petitioners state that the purpose of the waiver is to allow CenturyLink to move a portion of its Sterling Exchange, with four active subscriber lines and another four non-active subscriber locations, from its Colorado study area to Willard’s study area.2 Petitioners state that grant of the petition is in compliance with the standards set forth in the USF/ICC Transformation Order3 and that there will be little impact on the universal service fund and the overall support mechanism because so few access lines and non-subscriber locations are involved.4 Petitioners claim that if the waiver is granted, the four access lines will receive little or no support.5 Effective November 15, 1984, the Commission froze all study area boundaries to prevent incumbent local exchange carriers from establishing separate study areas made up only of high-cost 1 Qwest Corporation d/b/a CenturyLink QC and Willard Telephone Company, Inc. Joint Petition for Expedited Waiver, CC Docket No. 96-45 (filed Nov. 17, 2014) (Petition). 47 C.F.R. pt. 36 App. (defining “study area”). 2 See Petition at 1-2. There are four active subscriber access lines and four non-active subscriber locations in the areas at issue. Id. 3 See Connect America Fund; A National Broadband Plan for Our Future; Establishing Just and Reasonable Rates for Local Exchange Carriers; High-Cost Universal Service Support; Developing a Unified Intercarrier Compensation Regime; Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service; Lifeline and Link-Up; Universal Service Reform – Mobility Fund; WC Docket Nos. 10-90, 07-135, 05-337, 03-109, CC Docket Nos. 01-92, 96-45, GN Docket No. 09-51, WT Docket No. 10-208, Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 26 FCC Rcd 17663, 17763, paras. 266-67 (2011) (USF/ICC Transformation Order); aff’d In re: FCC 11-161, 753 F.3d 1015 (10th Cir. 2014); 47 C.F.R. § 36.4. 4 See Petition at 3-4. 5 See Petition at 5. 2exchanges to maximize their receipt of high-cost universal service support.6 A carrier must therefore apply to the Commission for a waiver of the study area boundary freeze if it wishes to transfer or acquire additional exchanges. In the USF/ICC Transformation Order, the Commission streamlined its rules governing study area waiver requests, creating a method similar to the Bureau’s processing of routine section 214 transfer of control applications.7 In the past, the procedures for addressing petitions for study area waiver required the Bureau to issue an order either granting or denying the request after issuing a public notice. Under the revised process, upon determination that a petitioner has filed a complete petition and that the petition is appropriate for streamlined treatment, the Bureau will issue a public notice seeking comment on the petition, and the petition will be deemed granted 60 days after the reply comment due date absent further action by the Bureau.8 Based on an initial review, the Bureau finds that the Petition is complete and is appropriate for streamlined treatment, and it therefore seeks comment on the Petition. Interested parties may file comments on or before December 22, 2014, and reply comments on or before January 6, 2015. All pleadings are to reference CC Docket No. 96-45. Comments may be filed using the Commission’s Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS), or by filing paper copies.9 · Electronic Filers: Comments may be filed electronically using the Internet by accessing the ECFS: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs2/. · Paper Filers: Parties who choose to file by paper must file an original and one copy of each filing. Filings can be sent by hand or messenger delivery, by commercial overnight courier, or by first-class or overnight U.S. Postal Service mail. All filings must be addressed to the Commission’s Secretary, Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission. All hand-delivered or messenger-delivered paper filings for the Commission’s Secretary must be delivered to FCC Headquarters at 445 12th St., SW, Room TW-A325, Washington, DC 20554. All hand deliveries must be held together with rubber bands or fasteners. Any envelopes must be disposed of before entering the building. The filing hours are 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Commercial overnight mail (other than U.S. Postal Service Express Mail and Priority Mail) must be sent to 9300 East Hampton Drive, Capitol Heights, MD 20743. U.S. Postal Service first-class, Express, and Priority mail must be addressed to 445 12th Street, SW, Washington DC 20554. People with Disabilities: To request materials in accessible formats for people with disabilities (Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), send an e-mail to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice), (202) 418-0432 (tty). In addition, one copy of each pleading must be sent to each of the following: 6 See MTS and WATS Market Structure, Amendment of Part 67 of the Commission’s Rules and Establishment of a Joint Board, CC Docket Nos. 78-72, 80-286, Decision and Order, 50 Fed. Reg. 939 (1985). 7 See USF/ICC Transformation Order, 26 FCC Rcd at 17763, paras. 266-67. 8 See id.; 47 C.F.R. § 36.4. 9 See Electronic Filing of Documents in Rulemaking Proceedings, GC Docket No. 97-113, Report and Order, 13 FCC Rcd 11322 (1998). 3(1) The Commission’s duplicating contractor, Best Copy and Printing, Inc., 445 12th Street, SW, Room CY-B402, Washington, DC 20554, www.bcpiweb.com; phone: (202) 488-5300 fax: (202) 488-5563; (2) Abdel Eqab, Telecommunications Access Policy Division, Wireline Competition Bureau, 445 12th Street, SW, Room 5-B431, Washington, DC 20554; e-mail: Abdel-Hamid.Eqab@fcc.gov; (3) Charles Tyler, Telecommunications Access Policy Division, Wireline Competition Bureau, 445 12th Street, SW, Room 5-A452, Washington, DC 20554; e-mail: Charles.Tyler@fcc.gov. This proceeding shall be treated as a “permit-but-disclose” proceeding in accordance with the Commission’s ex parte rules.10 Persons making ex parte presentations must file a copy of any written presentation or a memorandum summarizing any oral presentation within two business days after the presentation (unless a different deadline applicable to the Sunshine period applies). Persons making oral ex parte presentations are reminded that memoranda summarizing the presentation must (1) list all persons attending or otherwise participating in the meeting at which the ex parte presentation was made, and (2) summarize all data presented and arguments made during the presentation. If the presentation consisted in whole or in part of the presentation of data or arguments already reflected in the presenter’s written comments, memoranda or other filings in the proceeding, the presenter may provide citations to such data or arguments in his or her prior comments, memoranda, or other filings (specifying the relevant page and/or paragraph numbers where such data or arguments can be found) in lieu of summarizing them in the memorandum. Documents shown or given to Commission staff during ex parte meetings are deemed to be written ex parte presentations and must be filed consistent with rule 1.1206(b). In proceedings governed by rule 1.49(f) or for which the Commission has made available a method of electronic filing, written ex parte presentations and memoranda summarizing oral ex parte presentations, and all attachments thereto, must be filed through the electronic comment filing system available for that proceeding, and must be filed in their native format (e.g., .doc, .xml, .ppt, searchable .pdf). Participants in this proceeding should familiarize themselves with the Commission’s ex parte rules. For further information, please contact Abdel Eqab, Telecommunications Access Policy Division, Wireline Competition Bureau at (202) 418-7400 or TTY (202) 418-0484. - FCC - 10 47 C.F.R. §§ 1.1200 et seq.