Federal Communications Commission DA 19-786 DA 19-786 Released: August 21, 2019 WIRELINE COMPETITION BUREAU SEEKS COMMENT ON THE JOINT PETITION OF HOOD CANAL TELEPHONE COMPANY D/B/A HOOD CANAL COMMUNICATIONS AND QWEST CORPORATION D/B/A CENTURYLINK TO WAIVE THE DEFINITION OF “STUDY AREA” CONTAINED IN PART 36 OF THE COMMISSION’S RULES CC Docket No. 96-45 Comment Date: September 20, 2019 Reply Comment Date: October 7, 2019 The Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) seeks comment on the joint petition of Hood Canal Telephone Company d/b/a Hood Canal Communications (HCC) and Qwest Corporation d/b/a CenturyLink (CenturyLink) (together, Petitioners) for waiver of the definition of “study area.” Joint Petition for Waiver of Hood Canal Telephone Company d/b/a Hood Canal Communications and Qwest Corporation d/b/a CenturyLink for Waiver of the Definition of “Study Area” Contained in Part 36, Appendix-Glossary of the Commission’s Rules, CC Docket No. 96-45 (filed Apr. 22, 2019) (Petition). 47 CFR Part. 36 App. (defining “study area”). Petitioners state that the purpose of the waiver is to permit CenturyLink to remove an area that is originally within its Washington study area located east of the town of Union and for the same area to be recognized as part of HCC’s Washington study area. See Petition at 1-2. Petitioners add that CenturyLink currently has no customers being served in the area being transferred, nor has any facilities. See Petition at 4. However, there are two customers in the same area that are currently served by HCC. Id. Moreover, the Petitioners also state that the driving factor behind this change is for HCC to be able to serve the said two customers with voice and broadband services. See Petition at 5. Petitioners state that grant of the petition is in compliance with the standards set forth in the USF/ICC Transformation Order, See Connect America Fund et al., WC Docket No. 10-90, et al., 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 CFR § 36.4. and the public interest will be served by granting the waiver. See Petition at 4-5. 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 exchanges in order to maximize their receipt of high-cost universal service support. 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). 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. See USF/ICC Transformation Order, 26 FCC Rcd at 17763, paras. 266-67. 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. See id.; 47 CFR § 36.4. Based on an initial review, the Bureau finds that because of the policy issues raised by the Petition, it is inappropriate for streamlined treatment and should be subject to further analysis and review. Accordingly, the Bureau will issue an order either granting or denying the Petition after considering the record, including the record received in response to this public notice. Consistent with the Commission’s decision in June 2014, the fee associated with the application to transfer lines below the exchange level is waived. See Connect America Fund, et al., Report and Order, et al., WC Docket No 10- 90, et al., 29 FCC Rcd 7051, 7082-83, para. 89 (2014). Pursuant to sections 1.415 and 1.419 of the Commission’s rules, interested parties may file comments on or before the dates indicated above. 47 CFR §§ 1.415, 1.419. 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. See Electronic Filing of Documents in Rulemaking Proceedings, GC Docket No. 97-113, Report and Order, 13 FCC Rcd 11322 (1998). · Electronic Filers: Comments may be filed electronically using the Internet by accessing the ECFS: http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/. · Paper Filers: Parties who choose to file by paper must file an original and one copy of each filing. If more than one docket or rulemaking number appears in the caption of this proceeding, filers must submit two additional copies for each additional docket or rulemaking number. 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. The filing hours are 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. All hand deliveries must be held together with rubber bands or fasteners. Any envelopes and boxes must be disposed of before entering the building. · Commercial overnight mail (other than U.S. Postal Service Express Mail and Priority Mail) must be sent to 9050 Junction Drive, Annapolis Junction, MD 20701. · U.S. Postal Service first-class, Express, and Priority mail must be addressed to 445 12th Street, SW, Washington DC 20554. In addition, we request that one copy of each pleading be sent to each of the following: (1) Abdel Eqab, Telecommunications Access Policy Division, Wireline Competition Bureau, 445 12th Street, S.W., Room 5-B431, Washington, D.C. 20554; e-mail: Abdel-Hamid.Eqab@fcc.gov; and (2) Charles Tyler, Telecommunications Access Policy Division, Wireline Competition Bureau, 445 12th Street, S.W., Room 5-A452, Washington, D.C. 20554; e-mail: Charles.Tyler@fcc.gov. 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). Availability of Documents. Comments, reply comments, and ex parte submissions will be publicly available online via ECFS. Documents will generally be available electronically in ASCII, Microsoft Word, and/or Adobe Acrobat. These documents will also be available for public inspection during regular business hours in the FCC Reference Information Center, which is located in Room CY-A257 at FCC Headquarters, 445 12th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20554. The Reference Information Center is open to the public Monday through Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The proceeding this Notice initiates shall be treated as a “permit-but-disclose” proceeding in accordance with the Commission’s ex parte rules. 47 CFR §§ 1.1200 et seq. 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 - 3