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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
Informal Complaints Filed By )
Independent Payphone Service ) File Nos. IC-98-42853, et
Providers Against Various ) al.
Local Exchange Carriers )
Seeking Refunds Of End User )
Common Line Charges )
ORDER
Adopted: June 18, 2003 Released: June 19,
2003
By the Chief, Enforcement Bureau:
1. In this Order, we extend the deadline for
converting End User Common Line (``EUCL'') informal
complaints that are covered by the Common Carrier
Bureau's Order of September 10, 1999,1 into formal
complaints.2 In these informal complaints,
independent payphone providers (``IPPs'') allege that
the defendant local exchange carriers (``LECs'')
improperly assessed EUCL charges, in violation of the
Commission's rules and sections 201(b) and 202(a) of
the Communications Act, as amended (the ``Act'').3
In the First Waiver Order, the Common Carrier Bureau
determined that the period for converting the
informal complaints to formal complaints would be
extended to three months after a final nonappealable
order had been entered in a pending complaint
proceeding.4 For reasons of administrative
efficiency and due to ongoing settlement discussions,
the staff further extended the deadline for
conversion of these informal complaints into formal
complaints.5 Pursuant to the most recent Enforcement
Bureau order, informal complaints were required to be
converted by June 30, 2003, to benefit from the
relation back rule outlined in section 1.718.6
2. On November 19, 2002, the Commission ruled on
certain liability issues in thirteen formal
complaints that raised many issues similar to those
raised in the pending informal complaints.7 The
Commission's resolution of the legal issues in the
Liability Order may facilitate the settlement of the
pending informal complaints. Moreover, the parties
to the thirteen formal complaints have petitioned the
United States Court of Appeals for the District of
Columbia to review the Commission's Liability Order,8
and we anticipate that a ruling from the Court in
that matter will affect any future EUCL proceedings.
Accordingly, we now extend to June 30, 2004, the
filing deadline for the conversion of these EUCL
informal complaints into formal complaints. Because
this extension will facilitate the possible
settlement of these numerous claims and allow the
parties to await the Court's review of the Liability
Order, we are satisfied that our action today serves
the public interest.
3. ACCORDINGLY, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to sections
4(i), 4(j), and 208 of the Communications Act, as
amended, 47 U.S.C. §§ 154(i), 154(j), 208, section
1.3 of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R. § 1.3, and
the authority delegated by sections 0.111 and 0.311
of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.111 and
0.311, that section 1.718(a) of the Commission's
rules, 47 C.F.R. § 1.718(a), IS HEREBY WAIVED, with
regard to the IPP EUCL informal complaints described
herein and the deadline for the conversion and filing
of these informal complaints into formal complaints
is hereby extended to June 30, 2004. This waiver is
effective as of the release of this Order.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS
COMMISSION
David H. Solomon
Chief, Enforcement Bureau
_________________________
1 Informal Complaints Filed By Independent Payphone
Service Providers Against Various Local Exchange Carriers
Seeking Refunds of End User Common Line Charges, Order, 16
FCC Rcd 3669 (CCB 1999) (``First Waiver Order'').
2 Ordinarily, section 1.718 requires that a formal
complaint must be filed with six months of the carrier's
response to the informal complaint if the formal complaint
is to relate back to the filing of the informal complaint.
See 47 C.F.R. § 1.718(a).
3 47 U.S.C. §§ 201(b) and 202(a); 47 C.F.R. §§ 69.1 et
seq.
4 See First Waiver Order, 16 FCC Rcd at 3672, ¶ 8. A
final nonappealable order has been entered in that
proceeding. See Verizon Telephone Companies, et al. v.
FCC, 269 F.3d 1098 (D.C. Cir. 2001).
5 See Informal Complaints Filed By Independent Payphone
Service Providers Against Various Local Exchange Carriers
Seeking Refunds of End User Common Line Charges, Order, 17
FCC Rcd 2115 (EB 2002) (``Second Waiver Order''); Informal
Complaints Filed By Independent Payphone Service Providers
Against Various Local Exchange Carriers Seeking Refunds of
End User Common Line Charges, Order, 17 FCC Rcd 14759 (EB
2002) (``Third Waiver Order'').
6 Third Waiver Order, 17 FCC Rcd 14759 (EB 2002).
7 See Communications Vending Corporation of Arizona,
Inc., et al. v. Citizens Communications Company f/k/a
Citizens Utility Company and Citizens Telecommunications
Company d/b/a Citizens Telecom, et al., Memorandum Opinion
and Order, 17 FCC Rcd 24201 (2002) (``Liability Order'').
8 Communications Vending Corporation of Arizona, Inc.,
et al. v. Federal Communications Commission, et al., No.
02-1364, consolidated with No. 03-1010, 03-1012 (D.C. Cir.
filed Nov. 26, 2002, Jan. 14, 2003, Jan. 17, 2003).