PUBLIC NOTICE Federal Communications Commission 1919 M St., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20554 DA 97-1573 COMMON CARRIER BUREAU ANNOUNCES COMMENT DEADLINE REGARDING LOW TECH DESIGNS, INC. PETITIONS FOR ASSUMPTION OF JURISDICTION PURSUANT TO SECTION 252(e)(5) OF COMMUNICATIONS ACT AND DECLARES THOSE PROCEEDINGS "PERMIT-BUT-DISCLOSE" FOR EX PARTE PURPOSES CC Docket Nos. 97-163, 97-164, and 97-165 Released: July 24, 1997 On July 11, 1997, Low Tech Designs, Inc. (LTD) filed three separate petitions requesting that the Commission assume jurisdiction, pursuant to section 252(e)(5) of the Telecommunications Act of Act of 1934, as amended, (the Act) over arbitration proceedings that have been pending before the Georgia Public Service Commission (Georgia PSC), the Illinois Commerce Commission (Illinois Commission), and the Public Service Commission of South Carolina (South Carolina PSC). That provision states that "[i]f a State commission fails to act to carry out its responsibility under this section [i.e., section 252] in any proceeding or other matter under this section, then the Commission shall issue an order preempting the State commission's jurisdiction of that proceeding or matter within 90 days after being notified (or taking notice) of such failure, and shall assume the responsibility of the State commission under this section with respect to the proceeding or matter and act for the State commission." The petitions, respectively, concern LTD's efforts to obtain interconnection agreements with BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc. (BellSouth) in Georgia, Illinois Bell Telephone Company d/b/a Ameritech Illinois (Ameritech) in Illinois, and GTE South (GTE) in South Carolina. LTD states that the requested agreements would allow it to use unbundled network elements associated with call-related databases to provide least-cost routing services for long distance calls. Section 51.803(a)(3) of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R.  51.803(a)(3), permits "the applicable state commission and the parties to the proceeding" that gave rise to a petition to preempt under section 252(e)(5) of the Act to file responses to the petition within 15 days of the petition's filing. In accordance with that rule, we have initiated a separate proceeding for each of the LTD petitions. Each of the State commissions and the parties to individual state proceedings may file a response in the appropriate proceeding before this Commission by July 28, 1997. Each response should be filed with the Secretary, FCC, 1919 M Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20554. Responses should reference CC Docket No. 97-164 if filed in the Georgia proceeding, CC Docket No. 97-163 if filed in the Illinois proceeding, and CC Docket No. 97-165 if filed in the South Carolina proceeding. A copy of each response filed should also be sent to Janice Myles, Common Carrier Bureau, FCC, Room 544, 1919 M Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20554, and to the Commission's contractor for public service records duplication, ITS, Inc., 2100 M Street, N.W., Suite 140, Washington, D.C. 20037. LTD's petitions are available for inspection and copying during normal business hours in the FCC's Reference Center, Room 239, 1919 M Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20554. Copies also can be obtained from ITS at 2100 M Street, N.W., Suite 140, Washington, D.C. 20037, or by calling (202) 857-3800. In examining LTD's petitions, the Bureau has concluded that the public interest would be served by modifying the applicable ex parte procedures in these cases to permit a fuller exchange on the legal and policy issues raised by those petitions. Therefore, in accordance with section 1.1200(a) of the Commission's Rules, 47 C.F.R.  1.1200(a), as revised, these proceedings will be treated, for ex parte purposes, as "permit-but-disclose" proceedings and subject to the "permit-but-disclose" requirements under section 1.1206(b) of the rules, 47 C.F.R.  1.1206(b), as revised. Parties making oral ex parte presentations are reminded that memoranda summarizing the presentation must contain a summary of the substance of the presentation and not merely a listing of the subjects discussed. More than a one or two sentence description of the views and arguments presented is generally required. See 47 C.F.R.  1.1206(b)(2), as revised. Other rules pertaining to oral and written presentations are set forth in section 1.1206(b) as well. Interested parties should file with the Commission Secretary, and serve Janice Myles and ITS with copies of any written ex parte presentations or summaries of oral ex parte presentations in these proceedings in the manner specified above. We also require all written ex parte presentations or summaries of oral ex parte presentations in these proceedings to be served on all parties to the respective proceedings. For further information contact Janice Myles, Policy and Program Planning Division, Common Carrier Bureau, at (202) 418-1577. - FCC - $// PN, LTD Pets for Assumption of Jurisdiction, CC No. 97-163, 97-164 & 97-165, DA 97- 1573 //$ $/ 47 U.S.C.  252(e)(5) /$ "FOR RECORD ONLY"