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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:  NEWS  MEDIA  CONTACT: 
 November  8,  2001  Michael  Balmoris  202-  418-  0253 
 Email:  mbalmori@  fcc.  gov 


 FCC  SEEKS  TO  ESTABLISH  NATIONAL  PERFORMANCE  STANDARDS  FOR 
 TELECOM  CARRIERS’  WHOLESALE  OPERATIONS 


 Proposal  Seeks  to  Provide  Greater  Consistency,  Certainty  and  Clarity 
 Washington,  D.  C.  –  Today,  the  Federal  Communications  Commission  (FCC) 
 began  a  rulemaking  proceeding  to  establish  a  core  set  of  national  performance 
 measurements  and  standards  for  incumbent  local  exchange  carriers  (LECs).  The  Notice 
 of  Proposed  Rulemaking  (NPRM)  seeks  to  identify  a  list  of  key  performance 
 measurements  and  standards  for  evaluating  an  incumbent  LEC’s  performance  in 
 provisioning  wholesale  facilities  and  services  to  competitors. 


 The  NPRM  adopted  today  offers  for  comment  a  set  of  12  specific  performance 
 measurements  and  seeks  comment  on  related  issues  of  implementation,  reporting 
 requirements,  and  enforcement  mechanisms  (the  specific  set  of  performance 
 measurements  is  attached). 


 With  today’s  action,  the  Commission  seeks  to  accomplish  the  following  three 
 goals: 


 1)  Create  certainty  in  the  marketplace  by  providing  all  carriers  with  bright  line 
 guidance  about  whether  an  incumbent  LEC  has  provided  interconnection, 
 collocation  and  access  to  unbundled  network  elements  (UNEs)  in  a 
 nondiscriminatory  manner; 


 2)  Reduce  reporting  costs  and  minimize  regulatory  burdens  by  streamlining, 
 standardizing,  and  simplifying  the  potentially  divergent  federal  and  state 
 regulatory  requirements;  and, 


 3)  Establish  specific  enforcement  policies  or  guidelines,  including  self-effectuating 
 remedies  for  responding  to  violations  of  any  national 
 measurements  and  standards  that  the  Commission  adopts. 


 -FCC-CC 
 Docket  No.  01-  318 
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 Action  by  the  Commission,  November  8,  2001,  by  Notice  of  Proposed 
 Rulemaking  (FCC  01-  331).  Chairman  Powell,  and  Commissioners  Abernathy,  Copps 
 and  Martin,  with  Powell,  Copps  and  Martin  issuing  separate  statements 


 Common  Carrier  Bureau  Staff  Contact:  Cathy  Carpino  at  202-  418-  1580 


 News  about  the  Federal  Communications  Commission  can  also  be  found 
 on  the  Commission’s  web  site  www.  fcc.  gov. 
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