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                                Before the
                     Federal Communications Commission
                          Washington, D.C. 20554

In the Matter of                             )
                                             )
Implementation of the Pay Telephone          )              CC Docket No. 96-128
Reclassification and Compensation                   )
Provisions of the Telecommunications                )       
Act of 1996

ORDER
                              
 Adopted:  November 4,  1997                                     Released:  November 4, 1997

By the Acting Chief,  Enforcement Division, Common Carrier Bureau:

     1.     On October 29, 1997, the American Public Communications Council (APCC) filed
a motion for extension of time for filing reply comments in response to the Public Notice
regarding petitions to waive certain payphone-specific coding digit requirements established in
the Payphone Orders.  Reply comments in response to the Public Notice are due on November
6, 1997.   APCC requests an extension for three additional business days or until November 11,
1997, pursuant to Section 1.46 of the Commission's Rules.   We deny APCC's request. 

     2.     On October 7, 1997, the Common Carrier Bureau granted on its own motion a
limited waiver until March 9, 1998, to those local exchange carriers (LECs) and payphone
service providers (PSPs) that cannot provide payphone specific digits as required by the
Payphone Orders.   The Bureau stated that an immediate waiver was necessary to begin per-call
compensation on October 7, 1997, in keeping with the Commission's mandate under Section 276
of the Communications Act.   The limited waiver recognized that three parties, United States
Telephone Association, LEC ANI Coalition, and TDS Communications Corporation, filed
petitions for waiver of the payphone-specific coding digit requirements.  The Public Notice
seeks comments on those waiver requests.   The Public Notice also addresses filings from
AT&T indicating that it could not comply with the requirements of the Coding Digit Waiver
Order, and proposing alternative methods of compliance.    

     3.     In its motion for extension of time, APCC states that additional time is needed
because there are "many difficult issues to consider and resolve with respect to payphone coding
digits," and that industry segments, such as IXCs and LECs, are likely to have "widely
diverging views."  APCC also states that the pleading cycle established in the Public Notice
conflicts with an APCC conference.  APCC argues that it without the extension of time it will
be unable to collect its members' views and incorporate those views into the reply comments. 

     4.     We deny the APCC Motion for several reasons.  The Commission does not
routinely grant time extensions.   We also note that parties have filed extensive pleadings on
the issue of coding digits in the ruling proceeding, so the views of parties are not being revealed
for the first time in the comments.  Moreover, as stated by APCC, and as reflected in the
Coding Digit Waiver Order, the provision of payphone-specific coding digits is an essential
element of the per-call compensation scheme established in the Payphone Orders.  In the
Coding Digit Waiver Order, we granted on our own motion a waiver of the requirements for
LECs and PSPs to provide coding digits effective October 7, 1997 to ensure that per-call
compensation proceeded as planned.   We are aware, however, that there are a number of
significant economic and technological matters at issue with respect to the provision of
payphone-specific coding digits, and we believe it is therefore in the interest of both the industry
and the public that we proceed on schedule to obtain a final resolution of this matter.   Given
the above considerations, we are not persuaded by APCC's arguments that the special
circumstances associated with its conference are sufficient to justify a delay in this proceeding. 
Moreover, we do not find persuasive APCC's argument that extensions of time that were granted
in other proceedings with different circumstances and issues serves as a basis to provide an
extension in this proceeding.    

     5.     Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to Sections 1 and 4 of the
Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C.  151, 154, and the authority delegated
by Sections 0.91 and 0.291 of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R.  0.91, 0.291, that the
October 29, 1997 motion by the American Public Communications Council to extend the reply
comment period IS DENIED.


                                          FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION



                                          Robert W. Spangler
                                          Acting Chief, Enforcement Division 
                                          Common Carrier Bureau