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


In the Matter of                 )
                                )    File No. EB-04-TC-066 
AT&T Corp.                       )    NAL/Acct. No.  200532170001
                                )    FRN:  0010202638
Billing for                      )
Unauthorized Services            )


                              ORDER

Adopted:  November 30, 2004                                    
Released:  December 1, 2004

By the Chief, Enforcement Bureau:

     1.   In this  Order, we  adopt the  attached Consent  Decree 
entered into  between  the  Enforcement  Bureau  and  AT&T  Corp. 
(``AT&T'').   The  Consent  Decree  terminates  an  investigation 
initiated  by  the  Enforcement  Bureau  regarding  whether  AT&T 
violated section 201(b)  of the  Communications Act  of 1934,  as 
amended (the  ``Act''),1 by  erroneously charging  a $3.95  basic 
rate monthly recurring charge to  certain AT&T customers as  well 
as non-AT&T customers.

     2.   The Enforcement  Bureau and  AT&T have  negotiated  the 
terms of  a Consent  Decree that  would resolve  this matter  and 
terminate the investigation.   A copy  of the  Consent Decree  is 
attached hereto and incorporated by reference.

     3.   After reviewing  the terms  of the  Consent Decree,  we 
find that the  public interest  would be served  by adopting  the 
Consent Decree and terminating the investigation.  

     4.   Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to Section 4(i) of 
the Communications Act  of 1934, as  amended,2 that the  attached 
Consent Decree IS ADOPTED.
     5.   IT  IS   FURTHER  ORDERED   that  the   above-captioned 
investigation into the matters described herein is terminated. 


                         FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION



                         David H. Solomon
                         Chief, Enforcement Bureau
                           Before the
                Federal Communications Commission
                     Washington, D.C. 20554




In the Matter of                 )
                                )
AT&T Corp.                       )    File No. EB-04-TC-066
                                )    NAL/Acct. No. 200532170001
Billing for                      )    FRN:  0010202638
Unauthorized Services            )


                         CONSENT DECREE



I.  INTRODUCTION

     1.   The Enforcement Bureau (``Bureau'') of the Federal 
Communications Commission (the ``FCC'' or the ``Commission'') and 
AT&T Corp. (``AT&T''), by their authorized representatives, 
hereby enter into this Consent Decree to resolve an investigation 
by the Bureau regarding whether AT&T violated section 201(b) of 
the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (the ``Act''),3 by 
erroneously charging a $3.95 basic rate monthly recurring charge 
(``basic MRC'') to certain AT&T customers as well as non-AT&T 
customers.  The investigation was undertaken pursuant to sections 
4(i), 4(j), 218, and 403 of the Act.4 


II.  BACKGROUND

     2.   AT&T states that, effective January 1, 2004, it began 
               charging the basic MRC to customers on its basic 
               rate state-to-state direct-dialed plan.  AT&T 
               asserts that, prior to implementing the basic MRC, 
               AT&T sent written notice to its customers, posted 
               advance notice on its website, filed a tariff with 
               the Commission, and published a service guide 
               pursuant to its AT&T Consumer Service Agreement.  
               AT&T acknowledges that, after January 1, 2004, it 
               inadvertently billed the basic MRC to a total of 
               1,267,032 consumers, which included AT&T customers 
               who were not on the basic rate state-to-state 
               direct-dialed plan as well as non-AT&T customers 
               in 50 states and the District of Columbia, 
               primarily due to coding and systems processing 
               issues.

     3.   AT&T asserts that it (1) formed a team to resolve these 
               issues and provide adjustments to affected 
               consumers, (2) took steps to lessen additional 
               consumer inconvenience as a result of the billing 
               error, and (3) placed bill holds on the accounts 
               of consumers that AT&T determined could be 
               potentially affected as AT&T identified the 
               problems causing the errors.  AT&T states that 
               these bill holds prevented the issuance of 
               additional erroneous bills for these consumers 
               while AT&T corrected the errors.  In addition, 
               AT&T asserts that it stopped or prevented 
               collections efforts with respect to those 
               consumers that AT&T identified as being billed in 
               error.  Also, AT&T states that it implemented a 
               process for its 1 800 222 0300 customer care 
               number so that non-AT&T customers who call about 
               erroneous bills are directed to an automated 
               message that explains the error and the automatic 
               credit/refund process.  

     4.   AT&T disclosed the MRC billing error to the Commission 
               and met with the Consumer and Governmental Affairs 
               Bureau on March 1, 2004.  AT&T subsequently 
               contacted the Commission several times to keep the 
               Commission apprised of the status of AT&T's 
               efforts to correct the error and provide credits 
               and refunds to affected consumers.  AT&T states 
               that it rectified the coding and systems 
               processing errors that caused the billing error 
               and that it provided credits and refunds to all 
               the AT&T and non-AT&T consumers whom AT&T had 
               erroneously billed the basic MRC.  

     5.   On June 22, 2004, the Bureau issued a Letter of Inquiry 
               to AT&T and initiated an investigation into 
               whether the basic MRC billing error violated 
               section 201(b) of the Act.5  The LOI requested 
               that AT&T provide certain information.

III. DEFINITIONS

     6.   For the Purposes of this Consent Decree, the following 
definitions shall apply:

     (a)  ``Adopting Order'' means an Order of the Bureau 
     adopting the terms and conditions of this Consent Decree 
     without change, addition or modification.

     (b)  ``AT&T'' or the ``Company'' means AT&T Corporation, and 
     any affiliate, d/b/a, predecessor-in-interest, parent 
     companies and any direct or indirect subsidiaries of such 
     parent companies, or other affiliated companies or 
     businesses, and their successors and assigns.

     (c)  ``Bureau'' means the Enforcement Bureau of the Federal 
     Communications Commission.

     (d)  ``Communications Act'' or ``Act'' means the 
     Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. § 151 et 
     seq.
          
     (e)  ``Effective Date'' means the date on which the Bureau 
     adopts the Adopting Order.

     (f)  The ``FCC'' or the ``Commission'' means the Federal 
     Communications Commission and all bureaus and offices of the 
     Commission, including the Enforcement Bureau.

     (g)  ``Investigation'' means the investigation commenced by 
     the Bureau's Letter of Inquiry dated June 22, 2004,6 
     together with complaints about the basic MRC against AT&T 
     received by the Commission prior to the Effective Date.

     (h)  ``Parties'' means AT&T and the Federal Communications 
     Commission. IV.  AGREEMENT

     7.   AT&T agrees that the Commission has jurisdiction over 
it and the matters contained in this Consent Decree and the 
authority to enter into and adopt this Consent Decree.

     8.   AT&T represents and warrants that it is the properly 
named party to this Consent Decree and is solvent and has 
sufficient funds available to meet fully all financial and other 
obligations set forth herein.  AT&T further represents and 
warrants that it has caused this Consent Decree to be executed by 
its authorized representative, as a true act and deed, as of the 
date affixed next to said representative's signature.  Said 
representative and AT&T respectively affirm and warrant that said 
representative is acting in his/her capacity and within his/her 
authority as a corporate officer of AT&T, and on behalf of AT&T 
and that by his/her signature said representative is binding AT&T 
to the terms and conditions of this Consent Decree.

     9.   The Parties agree and acknowledge that this Consent 
Decree shall constitute a final settlement of the Investigation.  
In express reliance on the covenants and representations 
contained herein, and in order to avoid the potential expenditure 
of additional public resources, the Bureau agrees to terminate 
the Investigation.  The Bureau agrees that, in the absence of new 
material evidence related to this matter, it will not use the 
facts developed in the Investigation or the existence of this 
Consent Decree to initiate, on its own motion, any new 
proceedings, formal or informal, or take any actions on its own 
motion, nor will the Bureau, on its own motion, seek any 
administrative or other penalties from AT&T based on the 
Investigation.  Consistent with the foregoing, nothing in this 
Consent Decree limits the Commission's authority to consider and 
adjudicate any formal complaint that may be filed pursuant to 
section 208 of the Act, 47 U.S.C. § 208, and to take any action 
in response to such complaint.

     10.  The Parties agree that this Consent Decree does not 
constitute either an adjudication on the merits or a factual or 
legal finding regarding any compliance or noncompliance with the 
requirements of the Act and the Commission's rules.  The Parties 
agree that this Consent Decree is for settlement purposes only 
and that by agreeing to this Consent Decree, AT&T does not admit 
or deny any wrongdoing, non-compliance, or violation of the Act 
or the Commission's rules in connection with the matters that are 
the subject of this Consent Decree.  

     11.  In consideration for the termination of the 
Investigation in accordance with the terms of this Consent 
Decree, AT&T shall make a voluntary payment to the United States 
Treasury, without further protest or recourse to a trial de novo, 
in the amount of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) within 
fifteen (15) business days after the Effective Date.  The payment 
must be made by check or similar instrument, payable to the order 
of the Federal Communications Commission.  The payment must 
include the Acct. No. and FRN No. referenced above.  Payment by 
check or money order may be mailed to Forfeiture Collection 
Section, Finance Branch, Federal Communications Commission, P.O. 
Box 73482, Chicago, IL, 60673-7482.  Payment by overnight mail 
may be sent to Bank One/LB 73482, 525 West Monroe, 8th Floor 
Mailroom, Chicago, IL 60661.  Payment by wire transfer may be 
made to ABA Number 071000013, receiving bank Bank One, and 
account number 1165259. 

     12.  For purposes of settling the matters set forth herein, 
AT&T confirms that it has either completed or initiated and will 
continue to implement the actions described below (i.e., the 
Compliance Plan), with respect to the billing for traditional 
telephone services in its residential billing system (the 
residence account maintenance platform (``RAMP'')), to prevent 
the similar occurrence of billing errors:7

     (a)  Implemented a new testing system to evaluate the 
     impacts on consumers of scheduled changes to AT&T's billing 
     system.  This system allows AT&T to test, in advance of 
     implementation, billing system changes to identify the 
     impacts of such changes on a customer who should be affected 
     by the change (positive test case) and the impacts on a 
     customer who should not be affected by the change (negative 
     test case), and to better prevent billing errors before they 
     occur.  AT&T will test between 20 and 1000 cases prior to 
     implementing each billing system change.

     (b)  Added at least 5,000 test cases to the regression test 
     bed for the residential billing system.    The purpose of 
     regression testing is to verify that new system codes, table 
     updates, or process changes (collectively, ``new 
     applications'') implemented at a particular point in time do 
     not adversely affect the operation of existing applications 
     in the billing system.  AT&T will perform such regression 
     testing within two weeks of implementing a new application. 
     This process will allow AT&T to compare the functioning of 
     the residential billing system before and after the new 
     applications are implemented.  

     (c)  Established a checklist to validate each business rule 
     used to implement a change in the billing system, i.e., a 
     new functionality, in order to verify that existing 
     functionalities are not affected.  Managers in the billing 
     operations organization will be instructed to incorporate 
     the checklist into their processes prior to implementing any 
     new functionality in the billing system.

     (d)  To verify the accuracy of its records for customer 
     primary interexchange carrier (``PIC'') status, AT&T will 
     compare its records for its basic schedule long distance 
     customers in all 50 states to the records of certain local 
     exchange carriers, including, at a minimum, Verizon, SBC, 
     Qwest, BellSouth, Citizens, TDS, and Alltel.  If this 
     reconciliation process identifies any additional consumers 
     who have been or who are being erroneously billed the basic 
     MRC, AT&T will provide refunds or credits to those 
     consumers.  The reconciliation and additional adjustment 
     processes will be completed no later than February 28, 2005.   
     AT&T agrees to file a report (with a request for 
     confidential treatment, as appropriate) with the Bureau no 
     later than April 30, 2005 detailing by state the number of 
     additional consumers who received adjustments and the total 
     amount of credits and refunds provided to those consumers.

(e)  Assigned an additional five bill calculation/system 
     processing subject matter experts to assist with the 
     management of RAMP.

(f)  Assigned additional analysts to AT&T's bill verification 
     unit, who will analyze random samples of bills before they 
     are released.  The bill verification unit will sample and 
     review for accuracy at least .07% of its bills per month for 
     traditional telephone services issued through RAMP.  

(g)  AT&T will file reports (with requests for confidential 
     treatment, as appropriate) with the Bureau no later than six 
     months, one year, and two years after the Effective Date 
     that describe each billing error in RAMP involving 
     traditional telephone services, if any, that results in an 
     overcharge to  consumers in an amount equal to more than one 
     percent (1%) of its residential customer base (regardless of 
     whether or not the affected consumers are AT&T customers) in 
     any month for the period covered by such report.  The 
     reports will also describe the steps taken by AT&T to 
     correct such billing error.  If no such billing error has 
     occurred, AT&T shall provide such confirmation to the Bureau 
     in its reports.  AT&T shall also report its progress 
     implementing each step of this Compliance Plan.

(h)  The requirements of this Compliance Plan shall expire 
     twenty-four (24) months from the Effective Date.

     13.  Nothing in this Compliance Plan shall alter AT&T's 
obligation to otherwise comply with the Act and with the 
Commission's rules and orders.     
     
     14.  AT&T waives any and all rights it may have to seek 
administrative or judicial reconsideration, review, appeal, or 
stay, or to otherwise challenge or contest the validity of this 
Consent Decree and Adopting Order, provided the Adopting Order 
adopts the Consent Decree without change, addition, or 
modification.

     15.  AT&T's decision to enter into this Consent Decree is 
expressly contingent upon the issuance of an Adopting Order by 
the Bureau that is consistent with this Consent Decree, and which 
adopts the Consent Decree without change, addition, or 
modification.

     16.  In the event that this Consent Decree is rendered 
invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, it shall become 
null and void and may not be used in any manner in any legal 
proceeding.

     17.  The Parties also agree that if any provision of this 
Consent Decree conflicts with any subsequent rule or order 
adopted by the Commission (except an order specifically intended 
to revise the terms of this Consent Decree to which AT&T does not 
consent) that provision will be superseded by such Commission 
rule or order.

     18.  By this Consent Decree, AT&T does not waive or alter 
its right to assert and seek protection from disclosure of any 
privileged or otherwise confidential and protected documents and 
information, or to seek appropriate safeguards of confidentiality 
for any competitively sensitive or proprietary information. The 
status of materials prepared for, reviews made and discussions 
held in the preparation for and implementation of AT&T's 
compliance efforts under this Consent Decree, which would 
otherwise be privileged or confidential, are not altered by the 
execution or implementation of the terms of this Consent Decree, 
and no waiver of such privileges is made by this Consent Decree.

     19.  If either Party (or the United States on behalf of the 
Commission) brings a judicial action to enforce the terms of the 
Adopting Order, neither AT&T nor the Commission shall contest the 
validity of the Consent Decree or the Adopting Order, and AT&T 
and the Commission will waive any statutory right to a trial de 
novo with respect to the issuance of the Adopting Order and shall 
consent to a judgment incorporating the terms of this Consent 
Decree.
     





     20.  AT&T agrees that any violation of the Consent Decree or 
the Adopting Order will constitute a separate violation of a 
Commission order, entitling the Commission to exercise any rights 
or remedies attendant to the enforcement of a Commission order.

     21.  This Consent Decree may be signed in counterparts.

For: AT&T Corp.


_____________________________   __________________________
Date                            (AT&T Signature)                 
          
          
For: Enforcement Bureau
     Federal Communications Commission  
               
______________________________          
__________________________
Date                                    David H. Solomon
                              Chief, Enforcement Bureau


     

_________________________

1 47 U.S.C. § 201(b).
2 47 U.S.C. § 154(i).
3  47 U.S.C. § 201(b)
4    47 U.S.C. §§ 154(i), 154(j), 218 and 403.
5 See  Letter from  Colleen Heitkamp,  Chief,  Telecommunications 
Consumers Division,  Enforcement  Bureau, to  Michael  DelCasino, 
Regulatory Division Manager, AT&T Corporation, June 22, 2004.
6 See id.
7 If the number of AT&T residential customer bills issued through 
RAMP decreases  25% from  the current  monthly volume,  AT&T  may 
periodically adjust the number of  test cases, the percentage  of 
bills sampled, and the number of analysts or other personnel  who 
work on the billing system based  on the number of customers  and 
bills that are issued but will not, in any case, discontinue such 
testing.  If AT&T makes any such adjustments, AT&T shall  specify 
the decreased volume  and any such  adjustment to the  Compliance 
Plan in  the  report(s) it  files  with the  Bureau  pursuant  to 
Section 11(g) below.