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 NEWS  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).  News  Media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  TTY:  1-  888-  835-  5322 
 For  Immediate  Release:  News  Media  Contact:  February  10,  2005  Rosemary  Kimball  at  (202)  418-  0511 
 e-  mail:  rosemary.  kimball@  fcc.  gov 
 COMMISSION  ADOPTS  RULES  TO  HELP  ENSURE  ACCURACY  OF  PHONE  BILLS  AND  REDUCE  SLAMMING  PROBLEMS 


 Washington,  DC  –  The  Commission  has  adopted  new  rules  that  will  help  ensure  that  consumers’  phone  service  bills  are  accurate  and  that  their  carrier  selection  requests 
 are  honored  and  executed  without  undue  delay.  The  rules  specify  a  number  of  situations  in  which  carriers  must  share  customer  information  with  each  other. 


 This  proceeding  began  with  a  Notice  of  Proposed  Rulemaking  released  on  March  25,  2004.  It  asked  parties  to  address  the  magnitude  of  the  billing  problems  ascribed  to 
 carriers’  failure  to  exchange  customer  account  information  among  themselves  in  a  complete  and/  or  timely  manner  and  whether  the  adoption  of  mandatory,  minimum 
 standards  could  significantly  reduce  the  percentage  of  consumer  complaints  concerning  billing  errors. 


 Upon  a  review  of  the  record,  the  Commission  concluded  that  mandatory,  minimum  standards  are  needed  to  facilitate  the  exchange  of  customer  account 
 information  between  local  exchange  carriers  (LECs)  and  interexchange  carriers  (IXCs).  The  Commission  pointed  to  evidence  demonstrating  that  information  needed  by  carriers 
 to  execute  customer  requests  in  a  timely  and  efficient  manner  and  to  properly  bill  customers  was  not  being  consistently  provided  by  all  LECs  and  by  all  IXCs. 


 Comments  by  a  group  of  telephone  companies  reported,  for  example,  that  nearly  60  percent  of  approximately  3,065  wireline  local  service  providers  do  not  participate  in 
 any  exchange  of  customer  account  information.  As  a  result,  on  average,  approximately  163.7  million  calls  per  month  (nearly  two  billion  calls  per  year)  are  placed  on  their  long 
 distance  networks  by  subscribers  for  whom  the  long  distance  provider  has  received  no  customer  billing  name  and  address  information.  The  Commission  noted  that  complaints 
 to  its  own  Consumer  Centers  also  indicated  continuing  problems  caused  by  lack  of  information  sharing  among  companies. 


 Under  the  new  rules,  a  LEC  will  be  required  to  supply  customer  account  information  to  an  IXC  when:  (1)  the  LEC  has  placed  an  end  user  on  the  IXC’s  network; 
 (2)  the  LEC  has  removed  an  end  user  from  the  IXC’s  network;  (3)  an  end  user  that  is  presubscribed  to  the  IXC  makes  certain  changes  to  her  account  information  via  her 
 LEC;  (4)  the  IXC  has  requested  billing,  name  and  address  (BNA)  information  for  an  end 
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 user  who  has  usage  on  the  IXC’s  network  but  for  whom  the  IXC  does  not  have  an  existing  account;  and  (5)  the  LEC  rejects  an  IXC-  initiated  order  to  change  a  customer’s 
 presubscribed  interexchange  carrier  (PIC).  In  addition,  an  IXC  will  be  required  to  supply  customer  account  information  to  a  LEC  when  an  end  user  contacts  the  IXC  directly 
 either  to  select  or  to  remove  the  IXC  as  his  PIC.  The  Commission  also  required  carriers  to  provide  the  required  notifications  promptly  and  without  unreasonable  delay. 


 While  the  Commission  specified  what  type  of  information  must  be  shared,  it  did  not  specify  the  method  carriers  should  use,  allowing  them  to  share  customer  account 
 information  pursuant  to  state-  mandated  data  exchange  requirements,  privately  negotiated  agreements  with  other  carriers,  or  voluntarily-  established  business  rules, 
 including  the  voluntary,  industry-  developed  standards  known  as  the  Customer  Account  Record  Exchange  (CARE)  process.  This  approach  should  minimize  the  potential  costs 
 or  burdens  associated  with  implementing  the  information  sharing  requirements,  particularly  for  small  and  rural  carriers. 


 The  new  rules  recognize  a  carrier’s  right  to  be  compensated  for  the  services  it  provides  by  ensuring  that  providers  of  long  distance  phone  services  receive  proper 
 notification  when  customers  are  placed  on  their  networks. 
 The  information  sharing  standards  adopted  today  apply  in  situations  involving  an  IXC  and  a  LEC  (or  LECs).  The  Commission  also  issued  a  Further  Notice  of  Proposed 
 Rulemaking  (FNPRM)  seeking  comment  on  whether  they  should  be  extended  to  situations  in  which  consumers  change  LECs.  The  FNPRM  specifically  asked  whether 
 the  Commission  should  require  all  local  service  providers  to  participate  in  the  exchange  of  customer  account  information  and  if  so,  what  information  local  service  providers 
 should  be  required  to  supply. 
 Action  by  the  Commission  February  10,  2005,  by  Report  and  Order  and  Further  Notice  of  Proposed  Rulemaking  (FCC  05-  29).  Chairman  Powell,  Commissioners 
 Abernathy,  Copps,  Martin  and  Adelstein,  with  Chairman  Powell  issuing  a  separate  statement. 


 -  FCC  - 
 CGB  contact:  Lisa  Boehley  at  (202)  418-  7395.  CG  Docket  02-  386. 
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