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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: May 21, 2004 Released: May 21,
2004
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 to facilitate 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, 2004, 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
parties to the thirteen formal complaints petitioned
the United States Court of Appeals for the District
of Columbia to review the Commission's Liability
Order,8 and on April 30, 2004, the Court issued an
opinion affirming in all respects the Commission's
Liability Order.9 In order to give the parties time
to review the Court's decision and assess the impact
of that decision on settlement, we now extend to
October 28, 2004 the filing deadline for the
conversion of these EUCL informal complaints into
formal complaints.10 Because this extension will
facilitate the possible settlement of these numerous
claims, particularly in light of the Court's recent
opinion, 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
October 28, 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''); Informal Complaints Filed
By Independent Payphone Service Providers Against Various
Local Exchange Carriers Seeking Refunds of End User Common
Line Charges, Order, 18 FCC Rcd 12047 (EB 2003) (``Fourth
Waiver Order'').
6 Fourth Waiver Order, 18 FCC Rcd 12047 (EB 2003).
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. FCC, 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).
9 Communications Vending Corporation of Arizona, Inc., et
al. v. Federal Communications Commission, et al., No. 02-
1364, 2004 WL 911769 (D.C. Cir. Apr. 30, 2004).
10 On May 12, 2004, Katherine J. Henry, counsel for a
number of complainants in these proceedings, submitted a
letter to the FCC requesting that we extend the deadline
for converting informal complains until December 31, 2004.
Because the letter did not indicate that any other parties
were served a copy, we did not consider the submission in
issuing this order. We are releasing this order well in
advance of the June 30th deadline so that parties have
sufficient notice that they are not required to file formal
complaints with the Commission by that time.