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



In the Matter of

Truth-in-Billing 

and 

Billing Format

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CC Docket No. 98-170



           ORDER GRANTING, IN PART, TEMPORARY WAIVERS

   Adopted:  December 23, 1999          Released: December 27, 1999

By the Chief, Common Carrier Bureau:

     I.   INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
1.   On May 11, 1999, the Commission released Truth-in-Billing and Billing Format,
First Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, CC Docket No. 98-170 (TIB
Order).  In the TIB Order, the Commission adopted principles and guidelines to ensure that
telephone bills provide consumers with the information they need to make informed decisions in the
telecommunications marketplace, as well as with tools to protect themselves against
telecommunications-related fraud such as slamming and cramming.

2.   The rules adopted in the May 11 order were originally directed to take effect on July
26, 1999.  In granting approval of the paperwork collections contained in the TIB Order, however,
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) expressed concern that computer programming
tasks related to truth-in-billing could hamper small carriers' Y2K remediation efforts.  In response
to OMB's concerns, the Commission delayed until April 1, 2000 the effective date of the truth-in-
billing requirements likely to require the most computer programming resources, namely, the
requirements relating to highlighting of new service providers and identification of deniable and
non-deniable charges.  The remaining rules took effect on November 12, 1999.  Shortly before the
November 12, 1999 effective date, however, 
numerous individual carriers, and industry trade associations the National Exchange Carrier
Association, Inc. (NECA), the National Telephone Cooperative Association, Inc. (NTCA), and the
Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies
(OPASTCO), filed petitions requesting that the remaining rules designated to take effect November
12, 1999 also be delayed until April 1, 2000.  

3.   The Joint Petition filed by NECA, NTCA, and OPASTCO, and nearly all of the
individual company waiver petitions, were filed on behalf of small, rural carriers whose billing
contractors informed them, in most cases late in the compliance process, that they would be unable
to complete the computer programming tasks necessary to implement the truth-in-billing changes
by the November 12, 1999 deadline.  These carriers, with a few exceptions, state that their bills
comply with the truth-in-billing requirements that took effect on November 12, 1999 as to their
own charges.  These carriers primarily seek waiver of the requirements for charges contained on
their bills that are included on behalf of other carriers, such as dial-around (e.g., 1010XXX)
interexchange and alternative operator service (AOS) providers.  As set forth in greater detail
below, in this Order we grant in part the Joint Petition, and the numerous, individual company
petitions that seek temporary, limited waiver until April 1, 2000 of compliance with the provider
identification, separation by provider, and billing inquiry contact requirements that will necessitate
computer programming changes.  We also make clear that any relief we grant herein shall also
apply to all other carriers facing the same compliance problems, regardless of whether those
carriers have already filed waiver requests or are members of the trade associations that filed the
Joint Petition.  We direct these carriers, however, to include in their bills inserts describing the
truth-in-billing rules requirements with which they do not comply and the actions they are taking to
accomplish compliance.

II.  DISCUSSION

4.     The Commission may exercise its discretion to waive a rule where particular facts would make
strict compliance inconsistent with the public interest.  In the instant matters, we find that specific
computer programming tasks have taken longer than anticipated to accomplish despite carriers' reasonable
and good faith efforts to achieve compliance with our rules.  For instance, sections 64.2401(a)(1), (a)(2),
and 64.2401(d) of our rules require that telephone bills must include the name and toll free inquiry contact
number of the carrier that is providing the service.   The petitioning carriers state they are capable of
listing their name and toll free number on their bills with respect to their own charges.  However,
numerous carriers state that, in order to list on the bill the name and toll free number of certain third party
providers whose charges appear on their bills, their billing vendors must reprogram their computer systems
to process "sub-CIC" information.  Other carriers state that computer upgrades will be needed to include
on the bill the name and toll free number of dial-around and AOS providers in certain, limited
circumstances, such as where a customer purchases the services of more than one AOS provider in a given
billing cycle.  These carriers emphasize that, because few of their customers use more than one AOS or
dial-around provider during a billing cycle, this difficulty will affect only a small percentage of their bills. 
A few other carriers state that their current bills bundle vertical features such as caller ID and call waiting
with their basic, local service, and that software changes will be required to enable these carriers to comply
with section 64.2401(b), which requires clear descriptions of billed charges.  

5.     The petitions state that the companies seeking waiver of the rules all employ billing contractors
to achieve important programming tasks related to billing, and that many of the billing contractors serve
multiple carriers.  We agree that it would be better use of these small carriers' limited resources for the
billing contractors to complete the programming tasks than for each individual carrier to engage in
duplication of the programming tasks necessary to achieve compliance with our truth-in-billing
requirements.  We also observe that the petitions seek limited waivers that will expire on April 1, 2000. 
We conclude that granting the Joint Petition and individual company waiver petitions will enable carriers
that have not yet completed their Y2K remediation efforts to focus their resources on this task. 
Accordingly, good cause exists to grant the petitions seeking temporary waivers to the extent that small
rural carriers would need to perform software and computer programming for the following requirements: 
(1) provider identification, (2) separation by provider, and (3) billing inquiry contact information for third-
party charges.

6.     Accordingly, because it is proving more difficult than first envisioned, despite their reasonable,
good faith efforts, for many carriers to comply with sections 64.2401(a) and (d) with respect to third-party
charges contained on their bills, and because strict compliance with the November 12, 1999 deadline may
adversely affect these carriers Y2K remediation efforts, we find that grant of limited, temporary waiver of
these requirements is appropriate. We therefore grant until April 1, 2000 a waiver of the requirement that
companies list a contact name and separate charges by provider where such provider is a dial-around or
AOS provider, to the extent that compliance with these requirements will necessitate software and
computer programming changes.  In the meantime, these carriers must include billing inserts stating that
the name and contact number of dial-around or AOS providers may not be listed on the bill in certain
circumstances as required by Commission rules, and that the carrier on whose bill the charges appear will
respond to customer inquiries directed to its own toll free consumer inquiry number.  We similarly grant
temporary, limited waivers to carriers that, because of Y2K and related computer programming concerns
cannot provide clear descriptions of billed charges.  Parties that are unable at present, due to technical
constraints, to include clear descriptions or inquiry contact numbers on their bills must provide these
disclosures through billing inserts until April 1, 2000, after which time the information must appear on the
bill itself.  Moreover, because the number of petitions that we have received indicates that these
compliance problems are endemic to small carriers, we find that the relief we grant herein, and the
obligation to include billing inserts outlining the carriers' difficulties and plans for compliance, shall also
apply to all other carriers facing the same compliance problems, regardless of whether those carriers have
already filed waiver requests or are members of NECA, NTCA, or OPASTCO.

III. ORDERING CLAUSES

7.     Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to Sections 1, 4(i) and (j),  201-209, 254, 258, and
403 of the Communications Act, as amended, 47 U.S.C.  151, 154(i), 154(j), 201-209, 254, 258, and
403 that petitions that seek temporary, limited waiver until April 1, 2000 of compliance with the provider
identification, separation by provider, and billing inquiry contact requirements that will necessitate software
and computer programming changes are hereby GRANTED IN PART.

8.     IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that carriers that have been granted waivers must include in
billing inserts information describing the Commission's rules that have been waived, how their bills depart
from the Commission's requirements, and the actions they are taking to accomplish compliance with the
Commission's truth-in-billing requirements, consistent with the terms of this order.

9.     IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the relief granted herein, and the obligation to include
billing inserts outlining the carriers' difficulties and plans for compliance, shall also apply to all other
carriers facing the same compliance problems as are described herein, regardless of whether those carriers
have already filed waiver requests. 

                         FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION



                         Lawrence E. Strickling
                         Chief, Common Carrier Bureau