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If you need the complete document, download the WordPerfect version or Adobe Acrobat version, if available. ***************************************************************** Before the Federal Communications Commission Washington, D.C. 20554 In the Matter of 1998 Biennial Regulatory Review -- Streamlined Contributor Reporting Requirements Associated with Administration of Telecommunications Relay Services, North American Numbering Plan, Local Number Portability, and Universal Service Support Mechanisms ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) CC Docket No. 98-171 ORDER Adopted: February 3, 2000 Released: February 4, 2000 By the Chief of the Common Carrier Bureau: I.Introduction 1.In this Order, we take actions to provide for the filing of the April 2000 Telecommunications Reporting Worksheet and for the distribution of essential contributor revenue data to the administrators of the: (1) Telecommunications Relay Services Fund; (2) the cost recovery mechanism for numbering administration; (3) the cost recovery mechanism for long-term local number portability; and (4) the universal service support mechanisms. These actions are necessary to ensure that the administrators of these support and cost recovery mechanisms will each have access to reliable and timely data on which to base contributions to these mechanisms. 2.Specifically, as set out below, we direct the National Exchange Carriers Association (NECA) to perform the data collection functions for the April 2000 filing, in accordance with the joint proposal submitted by the administrators of the four support and cost recovery mechanisms. Because we, at this time, select NECA to perform these functions only for the April 2000 filing, we also set out, below, procedures for the administrators to submit proposed arrangements for future filings. We expect that the procedures approved in this Order will result in lower administrative costs overall and will ensure the lowest regulatory burden on the telecommunications service providers that contribute to these support and cost recovery mechanisms. III.Background 4.In a series of separate proceedings, the Commission established procedures to finance interstate telecommunications relay services, universal service support mechanisms, administration of the North American Numbering Plan, and the shared costs of long-term local number portability. As directed by Congress, these efforts are funded by contributions from telecommunications carriers and certain other providers of telecommunications services. On July 14, 1999, the Commission acted to reduce duplicative reporting burdens associated with these four support and cost recovery mechanisms. In particular, the Commission replaced several different forms filed by contributing carriers and replaced them with one consolidated form, the Telecommunications Reporting Worksheet. The Commission also directed that contributors to the four support and cost recovery mechanisms need only file one copy of their completed Telecommunications Reporting Worksheet at one location. Pursuant to the Commission's order, contributors are required to file their end-of-year 1999 revenue data on April 1, 2000. 5.Moreover, in order to facilitate the filing of the Telecommunications Reporting Worksheet, the Commission ordered the administrators to "develop efficient and effective procedures for collecting, validating, and distributing the centrally-filed contributor data amongst themselves." The Commission directed the administrators to file a summary of their proposed procedures and to include in that summary a description of how related costs would be equitably apportioned. The Commission delegated authority to this Bureau to review the administrators' summary. 6.As directed in the Streamlined Contributor Reporting Requirements Order, the administrators filed a joint submission addressing data collection procedures and a proposed cost allocation methodology. The Joint Submission states that a "central data collection agent will be the most efficient and cost effective vehicle for implementing the FCC's consolidated revenue data collection procedures." The administrators propose that a data collection agent should perform a variety of functions, including distributing the form to potential filers, responding to industry inquiries, performing necessary follow-up, maintaining a database of contributor information, and providing information to the other administrators on a regular basis. The administrators propose a cost allocation methodology that would assign forty percent of the data collection-related costs to the administrator of the universal service support mechanisms, and twenty percent of the related costs each to the other administrators. By Public Notice, the Bureau sought comment on the administrators' Joint Submission. 7.The administrators' Joint Submission is silent on one key aspect of the data collection procedures, in that it does not propose a specific entity to serve as the data collection agent. In a separate letter, however, one of the administrators, the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), seeks to be designated as the entity responsible for the data collection procedures addressed in the Joint Submission. In comments, another administrator, NECA, opposes USAC's request and, alternatively, proposes that, instead of the Commission selecting the agent, "all the program administrators be directly responsible for the selection of the [data collection agent]." VIII.discussion 9.Consistent with the Commission's actions in this proceeding, we review the administrators' proposals with the goal of reducing regulatory burdens and administrative costs, wherever possible, for the contributors to the four support and cost recovery mechanisms. These costs include administrator costs that are ultimately passed on to contributors, as well as costs incurred directly by the contributors in complying with the Commission's rules. We conclude that, for purposes of the April 2000 filing, we can best reduce those costs by directing that completed copies of the Telecommunications Reporting Worksheet be filed with NECA. In order to ensure the lowest burden on filers of the worksheet and to ensure the efficient distribution of the contributor-filed data among the administrators, we order NECA to perform those tasks associated with the April 2000 data collection, as outlined in the joint submission of the administrators. 10.We find reasonable the administrators' conclusion that significant benefits may be achieved by having one entity perform the data collection functions associated with the filing of the Telecommunications Reporting Worksheet. Such an approach will ensure that telecommunications carriers and other providers of interstate telecommunications services need file only one copy of the consolidated worksheet and have one entity as the primary source for inquiries. While no party submitted a cost-benefit analysis of the proposal outlined in the Joint Submission, we are sufficiently persuaded by the administrators' mutual conclusion that having one entity perform these otherwise overlapping functions will be a cost effective approach. At a minimum, we see no evidence pointing to a contrary conclusion. 11.We select NECA to perform these functions for the April 2000 filing in order to ensure that the April 2000 filing is handled expeditiously. In this regard, we note that NECA currently performs the data entry functions -- either as administrator or under contract -- for three of the four mechanisms. We further observe that, during its tenure as an administrator, NECA has demonstrated its ability to perform these functions in a satisfactory manner. In making this decision, we necessarily decline USAC's invitation that it be designated as the entity responsible for data collection activities, for the April 2000 filing. We note, however, that, notwithstanding its request, USAC indicated its plans to employ NECA for the April 2000 filing. We also note that the administrator of the fourth mechanism, Lockheed Martin-IMS, expressed no interest in assuming responsibility for these functions. 12. Since we select NECA to perform these data entry functions only for the April 2000 filing, we also direct the administrators to file -- jointly or severally -- proposed procedures for handling the consolidated worksheet for the September 2000 filing and for both the April and September filings in the years 2001 and 2002. Any proposals addressing future filings should take into consideration the practical experiences of the previous filing and must demonstrate that they will provide not only low cost overall, but ease of filing for contributors, and a high degree of effectiveness in compiling, validating, and distributing the contributor data. The instructions for the September filing must be mailed no later than August 1st to contributors and submitted to the Office of Management and Budget for its approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act, which is required 60 days prior to that time (i.e., at the beginning of June). Accordingly, we direct that such proposals be filed by the administrators with the Commission no later than May 15, 2000. 13. We continue to believe that the administrators face incentives to develop efficient and effective procedures for processing this data and note that the administrators are free to develop -- jointly or severally -- different procedures for future filings. The Commission's order reflects a preference that the administrators resolve such issues in the same way that they resolve other routine administrative issues, i.e., without recourse to Commission action. In the event that the administrators are not able to jointly develop a proposal that address all aspects of the data collection procedures, e.g., including specifying the entity to serve as the data collection agent, we expect that the Bureau may need to revisit the issue of how much oversight is required, including whether it might need to supervise a competitive bidding process or whether it might need to select one entity to perform these data collection procedures based on the proposals received. 14. Having directed that NECA perform the functions of the data collection agent for the April 2000 filing, we turn to the issue of cost allocation. We have been presented with two proposals for allocating costs, one from the administrators and another from MCI Worldcom. In our view, both proposals appear to provide for a reasonable allocation of costs. Furthermore, both of these proposals appear administratively simple to apply. We find persuasive, however, that the proposal in the Joint Submission is endorsed by the administrators of all four mechanisms. We have been presented with no evidence to suggest that any of the administrators face incentives to do anything other than keep their administrative costs to a minimum. Accordingly, we direct that costs associated with the data collection functions be apportioned pursuant to the administrators' proposal in the Joint Submission. XV.conclusion 16. For all the reasons set forth above, we adopt this order to promote the efficient administration of the federal support and cost recovery mechanisms for telecommunications relay services, numbering administration, local number portability, and universal service support. We conclude that the actions taken here will provide the least burdensome process for contributors to comply with the Commission's reporting requirements and will reduce costs born by the telecommunications industry overall. XVII.ordering clauses 18. ACCORDINGLY, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to sections 1, 4(i), 4(j), 11, 201-205, 210, 214, 218, 225, 251, 254, 303(r), 332, and 403 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C.  1, 4(i), 4(j), 11, 201-205, 210, 214, 218, 225, 251, 254, 303(r), 332, and 403 that this ORDER is hereby ADOPTED. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Lawrence E. Strickling Chief, Common Carrier Bureau APPENDIX A - JOINT SUBMISSION OF THE PROGRAM ADMINISTRATORS APPENDIX B - LIST OF COMMENTERS Comments Bell Atlantic Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) MCI Worldcom, Inc. (MCI Worldcom) National Exchange Carrier Association, Inc. (NECA) Reply Comments MCI Worldcom NECA Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC)