FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Enforcement Bureau
Market Disputes Resolution Division
445 12 St., SW
Washington, DC 20554
Copies sent by Email
March 13, 2018
NOTICE OF FORMAL COMPLAINT
THIS LETTER CONTAINS IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING
FILING DEADLINES AND PROCEDURES. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.
Marc S. Martin
Brendon P. Fowler
Michael A. Sherling
Perkins Coie LLP
700 Thirteenth Street, NW
Suite 600
Washington, DC 20005
Adam L. Sherr
Associate General Counsel
CenturyLink Communications, LLC
1600 Avenue, Room 1506
Seattle, WA 98191
Counsel for CenturyLink
Re:
	
CenturyLink Communications, LLC, et a!., v. Verizon Services Corp., et a!.,
Proceeding Number 18-33, Bureau ID Number EB-18-MD-0O1
Counsel:
On February 26, 2018, CenturyLink Communications, LLC (CenturyLink) filed with this
Commission a formal complaint against Verizon Services Corp.; Verizon Virginia, LLC; Verizon
Washington, D.C., Inc.; Verizon Maryland, LLC; Verizon Delaware, LLC; Verizon Pennsylvania, LLC;
Verizon New Jersey Inc.; Verizon New York Inc.; Verizon New England, Inc.; Verizon North, LLC;
Verizon South Inc., (collectively, Verizon) under Section 208 of the Communications Act of 1934, as
amended (the Act), 47 U.S.C. § 208.' In accordance with the parties' joint request to waive Section
1.735(c) of the Commission's rules requiring "hand delivery" of the Complaint, a copy of the Complaint
1 CenturyL ink Communications, LLC, et al., v. Verizon Services Corp., et al., Formal Complaint of CenturyLink
Communications, LLC, Proceeding No. 18-33, Bureau ID Number EB-18-MD-001, (filed Feb. 26,2018)
(Complaint).
Joshua D. Branson
Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel
& Frederick, P.L.L.C.
1615 M Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Curtis L. Groves
Assistant General Counsel
Verizon
1300 I Street, NW
Suite 400 West
Washington, DC 20005
Counsel for Verizon
should already have been served on Verizon by email.2 If that is not the case, Verizon should
immediately contact the Commission counsel identified below.
Sections 1.720 through 1.736 of the Commission's rules govern Section 208 formal complaint
proceedings.3 47 CFR § 1.720-1.736. We strongly encourage the parties to read the formal complaint
rules, the Formal Complaints Order, the Formal Complaints Recon Order, and the Formal Complaints
Amendment Order fully and carefully.
By letter ruling on February 9, 2018, we granted the parties' joint request for limited waiver of
certain formal complaint rules subject to specified conditions and/or clarifications.4 Subsequent to filing
its Complaint, CenturyLink has requested an additional waiver of Sections 1.726(a) and 1.729(a) to
provide for additional time to file its reply and additional written intenogatories.5 Verizon opposed that
request, and alternatively requested additional time to file its answer if CenturyLink's additional waiver
request is granted.6 Given the complexity of the case, we grant CenturyLink ten days to file its reply, and
thus provide Verizon an additional three days to file its answer. In accordance with the formal complaint
rules, as modified by our Feb. 9 Letter Ruling and this letter:
1)
	
Verizon shall, on or before April 12, 2018, file and serve an Answer to the
Complaint that complies with this Notice of Formal Complaint and 47 CFR § 1 .724. Verizon shall also
file and serve its request for interrogatories, if any, and shall file and serve any opposition and objections
to CenturyLink's request for interrogatories, if any. 47 CFR § 1.729.
2)
	
CenturyLink shall, on or before April 23, 2018, file and serve a Reply to the
Answer that complies with this Notice of Formal Complaint and 47 CFR § 1.726.
2See Letter from Lisa Saks, Assistant Division Chief, Market Disputes Resolution Division, to Brendon P. Fowler,
Counsel for CenturyLink Communications, LLC, and Curtis Groves, Assistant General Counsel Federal Regulatory
and Legal Affairs, Verizon. (Feb. 9, 2018) (Feb. 9 Letter Ruling) (granting limited waivers of 47 CFR § § 1.718,
1.720(f), 1.721(a)(6), (8) (10), (11)1.724(a), (c), (f)(2), (g), 1.726(a), (c), (d)(2), (e), 1.729(a), 1.735(c), (e), (f)).
See Implementation of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Amendment of Rules Governing Procedures to Be
Followed when Formal Complaints Are FiledAgainst Common Carriers, Report and Order, 12 FCC Red 22497
(1997) (Formal Complaints Order), Order on Reconsideration, 16 FCC Rcd 5681(2001) (Formal Complaints
Recon Order). See also Amendment of Certain of the Commission's Part 1 Rules of Practice and Procedure
Relating to the Filing of Formal Complaints Under Section 208 of the Communications Act and Pole Attachment
Complaints Under Section 224 of the Communications Act, Order, 29 FCC Red 14078 (2014) (Formal Complaints
Amendment Order).
supra note 2.
See Letter from Marc S. Martin, Counsel for CenturyLink, to Sandra Gray-Fields, Market Disputes Resolution
Division, Proceeding Number 18-33, Bureau ID Number EB-18-MD-001 (filed Mar. 7, 2018).
6 See Letter from Joshua D. Branson, Counsel for Verizon, to Sandra Gray-Fields, Market Disputes Resolution
Division, Proceeding Number 18-33, Bureau ID Number EB-18-MD-00l (filed Mar. 12, 2018).
Except in rare circumstances, motions to dismiss should not be filed. Formal Complaints Recon Order, 16 FCC
Red at 5696 ("We fmd this practice of filing a separate motion to dismiss to be unnecessary, in virtually all
cases... {T]he Commission's rules are designed so that a defendant's answer is a comprehensive pleading containing
complete factual and legal analysis, including a thorough explanation of every ground for dismissing or denying the
complaint... {W]e remind defendants that the grounds for a motion to dismiss ordinarily should be raised in the
answer alone rather than in a separate pleading.").
2
3)
	
CenturyLink shall, on or before April 23, 2018, file and serve its second request
for interrogatories, if any, and file and serve any opposition and objections to Verizon's request for
interrogatories, if any. 47 CFR § 1.729.
4)
	
Verizon shall, on or before April 30, 2018, file any opposition and objections to
CenturyLink's second request for interrogatories, if any. 47 CFR § 1.729.
5)
	
The parties shall meet prior to complying with Commission rule 1.732(g),
1.733(b)(1). One purpose of that meeting is to resolve or narrow as many issues as possible, including,
but not limited to, settlement prospects, discovery, factual and legal issues in dispute, pleading schedules,
and the creation of a joint statement of stipulated facts, disputed facts, and key legal issues. See 47 CFR §
1.733(b)(1).
6)
	
By May 7, 2018, the parties must file with the Commission Secretary and the
Commission counsel identified below a joint statement of all proposals agreed to and any disputes
remaining with respect to the matters listed in Commission rule 1.733(b)(1)(i)-(iv) as a result of the
parties' meeting. At the same time, the parties also must submit a joint statement of stipulated facts,
disputed facts, and key legal issues. Both joint statements must be hand-delivered (if counsel is located in
the Washington, DC area) and e-mailed to the Commission counsel identified below, and filed with the
Commission Secretary. The parties may submit these two joint statements in a single document, if they
separately identify each. We strongly encourage the parties to devote substantial effort to developing
comprehensive and detailed joint statements.
7)
	
We will schedule an initial status conference, if necessary, after we receive and
review the parties' joint statements.
8)
	
The parties shall file a public version of all written submissions in this
proceeding using the Commission's Electroniá Comment Filing System (ECFS). All written submissions
shall (a) prominently contain the Proceeding Number and Bureau ID Number referenced above (see, e.g.,
47 CFR § 1.7), and (b) be addressed to the Commission Secretary.8 If a party seeks to file both a public
version and a confidential version of a submission, it must file the public (redacted) version on ECFS and
file the confidential (unredacted) version in hard copy form with the Office of the Commission Secretary.
See 47 CFR § 1.731. In addition to filing the unredacted version with the Office of the Secretary, please
leave at that office three additional unredacted hard copies marked as "Courtesy Staff Copies.
EB-MDRD, 202-418-7330." See 47 U.S.C. § 154(i); 47 CFR § 1.735(e). In addition, the parties shall
email to the Commission staff identified below courtesy copies of all filings (both public versions and
confidential versions) in a format that permits full text searching. See 47 U.S.C. § 154(i); 47 CFR §
1.735(e). See Formal Complaints Amendment Order, 29 FCC Rcd at 14081, para. 11 (requiring parties to
provide hard copies of submissions to Commission staff upon request).
The parties should note that this proceeding is restricted for exparte purposes pursuant to 47 CFR
Part 1, Subpart H. Further, the parties shall retain all records that may be relevant to the complaint,
including electronic records, until the Commission's decision in this proceeding is final and no longer
subject to judicial review. See 47 U.S.C. § 154(i), 208(a); 47 CFR § 42.7.
Commission staff assigned to this matter are: Rosemary McEnery (counsel) (202) 418-7336 and
rosemary.mceneiyfcc.gov, Erin Boone (counsel), (202) 418-0736 and erin.boone@fcc.gov ; Anthony J.
8 The parties are asked to ensure that they caption their submissions with the correct Bureau ID Number and
Proceeding Number. The new Bureau ID Number for the converted informal complaint is EB- 1 8-MD-00 1, and the
correct Proceeding Number is 18-33.
3
DeLaurentis (counsel) (202) 41 8-0198 and anthony.delaurentisfcc.gov, and Sandra Gray-Fields
(administrative), (202) 418-0961 and sandra.gray-fieldsfcc.gov .
This letter ruling is issued pursuant to Sections 4(i), 4(j), and 208 of the Act, 47 U.S.C. § 154(i),
154(j), 208, Sections 1.3 and 1.720-1.736 of the Commission's rules, 47 CFR § 1.3, 1.720-1.736, and the
authority delegated in Sections 0.111 and 0.311 of the Commission's rules, 47 CFR § 0.111, 0.311.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Rosemary H. McEnery, AdthiDivisio
Market Disputes Resolution Divisi
Enforcement Bureau
4