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 NEWS  News  Media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  TTY  202  /  418-  2555  Fax-  On-  Demand  202  /  418-  2830  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  ftp.  fcc.  gov  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12  th  Street,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  This  is  an  unofficial  announcement  of  Commission  action.  Release  of  the  full  text  of  a  Commission  order  constitutes  official  action.  See  MCI  v.  FCC.  515  F  2d  385  (D.  C.  Circ  1974). 
 FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE  May  24,  2001  NEWS  MEDIA  CONTACT:  John  Winston  (202)  418-  7450 
 FCC  ENFORCEMENT  BUREAU  IMPOSES  $94,500  FINE  AGAINST  SBC  FOR  VIOLATIONS  OF  LOCAL  COMPETITION  RULE 
 Washington,  DC  -  Today,  the  Enforcement  Bureau  of  the  Federal  Communications 
 Commission  announced  that  it  has  imposed  a  $94,500  fine  against  SBC  Communications,  Inc. 
 (SBC)  for  violating  the  Commission’s  collocation  rules.  Those  rules  generally  require 
 incumbent  local  exchange  carriers  (incumbents)  to  allow  competing  carriers  to  place  their 
 equipment  in  the  incumbents'  offices. 


 The  rule  at  issue  in  this  case  requires  incumbents  to  post  within  10  days,  on  their  publicly 
 available  Internet  site,  notices  of  incumbent-  owned  premises  that  have  run  out  of  collocation 
 space.  The  purpose  of  this  rule  is  to  ensure  that  competitors  do  not  waste  time  and  resources 
 applying  for  collocation  space  where  none  exists.  An  independent  audit  of  SBC's  compliance 
 with  the  Commission's  collocation  posting  rules  uncovered  a  small  number  of  violations. 
 However,  information  that  SBC  provided  during  the  Enforcement  Bureau’s  subsequent 
 investigation  revealed  that  the  company  had  violated  the  rule  in  numerous  other  instances.  The 
 Bureau  issued  a  Notice  of  Apparent  Liability  (NAL)  relating  to  this  matter  on  January  18,  2001 
 (DA  01-  128).  In  its  Order  of  Forfeiture  announced  today,  the  Bureau  rejected  several  defenses 
 that  SBC  asserted  in  its  response  to  the  NAL,  and  imposed  the  full  amount  of  the  fine  it  proposed 
 in  January. 


 Action  by  the  Chief,  Enforcement  Bureau,  May  24,  2001,  Order  of  Forfeiture 
 (DA  01-  1273). 


 Enforcement  Bureau  contacts:  John  R.  Winston  at  (202)  418-  7450,  and  Elizabeth  H. 
 Valinoti  at  (202)  418-  1529. 


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