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 15-291 Release Date: March 4, 2015 WIRELINE COMPETITION BUREAU ANNOUNCES THAT CERTAIN LONG DISTANCE PROVIDERS MUST BEGIN RECORDING THE DATA REQUIRED FOR RURAL CALL COMPLETION REPORTING WC Docket No. 13-39 With this Public Notice, the Wireline Competition Bureau announces that as of April 1, 2015, long-distance voice service providers that qualify as “covered providers” as defined in 47 C.F.R. § 64.2101(c) must begin recording and retaining data required for Rural Call Completion reporting. 1 FCC Form 480 Rural Call Completion Reports for the quarter consisting of April, May, and June 2015 must be filed by August 1, 2015. Long-distance voice service providers that have more than 100,000 domestic retail subscriber lines but that do not qualify as “covered providers” are required to file a one-time letter in WC Docket No. 13-39 by April 1, 2015. On November 8, 2013, the Commission released the Rural Call Completion Order, 2 which adopted rules that require, among other things, certain originating long-distance providers to record, retain, and report information on long distance call completion. The Commission subsequently made certain modifications to the data required for these purposes in the Rural Call Completion Reconsideration Order released on November 13, 2014. 3 The information to be recorded, retained, and reported by covered providers concerns the delivery of calls to rural local exchange carriers (LECs) individually and to nonrural LECs in the aggregate. 4 Long-distance voice service providers that have more than 100,000 domestic retail subscriber lines but that are not required to file quarterly reports pursuant to the terms of paragraph 67 of the Order nonetheless must file a one-time letter in WC Docket No. 13-39 explaining that they do not make the initial long-distance call path choice for more than 100,000 long-distance voice service subscriber lines and identifying the long-distance provider or providers to which they hand off their end-user customers’ 1 See 47 C.F.R. § 64.2101 et seq. 2 Rural Call Completion, WC Docket No. 13-39, Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 28 FCC Rcd 16154 (2013) (Rural Call Completion Order or Order). 3 Rural Call Completion, WC Docket No. 13-39, Order on Reconsideration, 29 FCC Rcd 14026 (2014). 4 Rural Call Completion Order, 28 FCC Rcd at 16184, paras. 65-66. 2calls. 5 This letter must be submitted to the Commission by April 1, 2015, and a copy must be submitted simultaneously to each provider identified in the letter as having reporting responsibility. 6 On November 16, 2014, the Commission submitted a revised request for approval of a new collection under control number 3060-1186 to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. §§ 3501-3520). That information collection was approved by OMB on January 29, 2015. The Commission published a notice in the Federal Register announcing the effective date of those rules on March 4, 2015. 7 Paragraph 66 of the Order requires covered providers to begin recording and retaining the required data on the first day of the calendar month that is at least 20 days after the effective date of the information collections. Accordingly, since the information collection is effective today, March 4, 2015, covered providers must begin recording and retaining the required data on April 1, 2015. 8 Covered providers must submit the first certified report to the Commission in electronic form by August 1, 2015 (reflecting monthly data from April through June) and must continue to submit reports quarterly thereafter in accordance with 47 C.F.R. § 64.2105. Instructions and resources for downloading the Form 480 reporting template and for submitting the completed Form 480 are available at the FCC Form 480 Encyclopedia page, http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/Form-480-Filer-Resources. For further information, please contact Richard Hovey, Competition Policy Division, Wireline Competition Bureau at (202) 418-2582 or Richard.Hovey@fcc.gov. - FCC - 5 Id., at 16184-5, para 67. 6 Id. 7 Id. at 16184, para 66. 8 Id.