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DA 05-2085
Released: July 26, 2005
Enforcement Bureau Provides Guidance to Interconnected Voice Over
Internet
Protocol Service Providers Concerning the July 29, 2005
Subscriber Notification Deadlines
WC Docket No. 04-36
WC Docket No. 05-196
In this Public Notice, the Enforcement Bureau (Bureau)
provides guidance to providers of interconnected voice over
Internet protocol (VoIP) service concerning enforcement of the
subscriber notification provisions of the Federal Communications
Commission's (FCC or Commission) rules governing enhanced 911
(E911) capability. Specifically, the Bureau announces that it
will not seek enforcement, for a 30-day period, of the
requirement that providers obtain affirmative acknowledgements,
by July 29, 2005, from 100% of their subscribers that they have
read and understood an advisory concerning the limitations of
their E911 service. To be eligible for this extension, providers
must meet the reporting requirements outlined below. The Bureau
will evaluate the sufficiency of the reports filed by
interconnected VoIP providers and take subsequent action as
necessary.
Background
On June 3, 2005, the FCC released an Order1 requiring
interconnected VoIP service providers2 to provide E911
capabilities to their subscribers no later than 120 days from the
effective date of the Order. The effective date of the Order is
July 29, 2005, 30 days from the date of publication in the
Federal Register.3
Additionally, as set forth in the VoIP E911 Order, by July
29, 2005, all providers of interconnected VoIP service must:
· Specifically advise every new and existing subscriber,
prominently and in plain language, of the circumstances
under which E911 service may not be available through
the interconnected VoIP service or may be in some way
limited by comparison to traditional E911 service;
· Obtain and keep a record of affirmative acknowledgement
by every subscriber, both new and existing, of having
received and understood the advisory described in the
paragraph above; and
· Distribute to its existing subscribers warning stickers
or other appropriate labels warning subscribers if E911
service may be limited or not available and instructing
the subscriber to place them on or near the equipment
used in conjunction with the interconnected VoIP
service. Each interconnected VoIP provider should
distribute such warning stickers or other appropriate
labels to each new subscriber prior to the initiation
of that subscriber's service.4
As referenced above, the Bureau has determined that it will
not initiate enforcement action, until August 30, 2005, against
any provider of interconnected VoIP service regarding the
requirement that it obtain affirmative acknowledgement by every
existing subscriber on the condition that the provider file a
detailed report with the Commission by August 10, 2005,
containing the information described below. During this brief
extension, interconnected VoIP providers will have the ability to
continue obtaining affirmative acknowledgements from the entirety
of their customer base. Further, we expect that if an
interconnected VoIP provider has not received subscriber
acknowledgements from 100% of its existing subscribers by August
29, 2005, then the interconnected VoIP provider will disconnect,
no later than August 30, 2005, all subscribers from whom it has
not received such acknowledgements. As such, providers may wish
to inform subscribers that their VoIP service will be
disconnected if they do not provide their acknowledgements by
August 29, 2005.
Subscriber Notification and Acknowledgement Status and
Compliance Reports
The report to the Commission should include:
· A detailed description of all actions the provider has
taken to specifically advise every subscriber,
prominently and in plain language, of the circumstances
under which E911 service may not be available through
the interconnected VoIP service and/or may be in some
way limited by comparison to traditional E911 service.
This information should include, but is not limited to,
relevant dates and methods of contact with subscribers
(i.e., e-mail, U. S. mail);
· A quantification of how many of the provider's
subscribers, on a percentage basis, have submitted an
affirmative acknowledgement, as of the date of the
report, and an estimation of the percentage of
subscribers from whom they do not expect to receive an
acknowledgement by August 29, 2005;
· A detailed description of whether and how the provider
has distributed to all subscribers warning stickers or
other appropriate labels warning subscribers if E911
service may be limited or not available and instructing
the subscriber to place them on and/or near the
customer premises equipment used in connection with the
interconnected VoIP service. This information should
include, but is not limited to, relevant dates and
methods of contact with subscribers (i.e., e-mail, U.
S. mail);
· A quantification of how many subscribers, on a
percentage basis, to whom the provider did not send the
advisory described in the first bullet above and/or to
whom the provider did not send warning stickers or
other appropriate label as identified in the bullet
immediately above;
· A detailed description of any and all actions the
provider plans on taking towards any of its subscribers
that do not affirmatively acknowledge having received
and understood the advisory, including, but not limited
to, disconnecting the subscriber's VoIP service with
the Company no later than August 30, 2005;
· A detailed description of how the provider is currently
maintaining any acknowledgements received from its
subscribers; and
· The name, title, address, phone number, and e-mail
address of the person(s) responsible for the Company's
compliance efforts with the VoIP E911 Order.
Filing Procedures
Interconnected VoIP providers may file the above-referenced
reports in this proceeding on or before August 10, 2005. All
reports must reference WC Docket No. 05-196 and should be labeled
clearly on the first page as ``Subscriber Notification Report.''
The report may be filed using: (1) the Commission's Electronic
Comment Filing System
(ECFS), or (2) by filing paper copies. See Electronic
Filing of Documents in Rulemaking Proceedings, 63 Fed. Reg.
24,121 (May 1, 1998).
· Electronic Filers: Compliance letters may be filed
electronically using the Internet by accessing the
ECFS: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/. Filers should
follow the instructions provided on the website for
submitting comments. For ECFS filers, in completing the
transmittal screen, filers should include their full
name, U.S. Postal Service mailing address, and the
applicable docket number (WC Docket No. 05-196).
· Paper Filers: Parties who choose to file by paper must
file an original and four copies of each filing.
Filings can be sent by hand or messenger delivery, by
commercial overnight courier, or by first-class or
overnight U.S. Postal Service mail (although we
continue to experience delays in receiving U.S. Postal
Service mail). All filings must be addressed to the
Commission's Secretary, Marlene H. Dortch, Office of
the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission, 445
12th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20554.
· The Commission's contractor will receive hand-delivered
or messenger-delivered paper filings for the
Commission's Secretary at 236 Massachusetts Avenue,
NE., Suite 110, Washington, DC 20002. The filing hours
at this location are 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. All hand
deliveries must be held together with rubber bands or
fasteners. Any envelopes must be disposed of before
entering the building.
· Commercial overnight mail (other than U.S. Postal
Service Express Mail and Priority Mail) must be sent
to 9300 East Hampton Drive, Capitol Heights, MD
20743.
· U.S. Postal Service first-class, Express, and
Priority mail should be addressed to 445 12th
Street, SW, Washington DC 20554.
Parties should also send a copy of their filings to:
· Byron McCoy, Telecommunications Consumers Division,
Enforcement Bureau, Federal Communications Commission,
Room 4-A234, 445 12th Street, SW, Washington, D.C.
20554, or by email to byron.mccoy@fcc.gov;
· Kathy Berthot, Deputy Chief, Spectrum Enforcement
Division, Enforcement Bureau, Federal Communications
Commission, Room 7-C802, 445 12th Street, SW,
Washington, D.C. 20554, or by email to
kathy.berthot@fcc.gov; and
· Janice Myles, Competition Policy Division, Wireline
Competition Bureau, Federal Communications Commission,
Room 5-C140, 445 12th Street, SW, Washington, D.C.
20554, or by e-mail to janice.myles@fcc.gov.
Parties must also serve one copy with the Commission's copy
contractor, Best Copy and Printing, Inc. (BCPI), Portals II, 445
12th Street, SW, Room CY-B402, Washington, D.C. 20554, (202) 488-
5300, or via e-mail to fcc@bcpiweb.com.
For further information regarding this proceeding, contact
David Hunt, Telecommunications Consumers Division, Enforcement
Bureau, (202) 418-1522, or Cynthia Bryant, Telecommunications
Consumers Division, Enforcement Bureau, (202) 418-8164.
-FCC-
_________________________
1 IP-Enabled Services and E911 Requirements for IP-Enabled Service
Providers, First Report and Order and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 2005
WL 1323217, FCC, (rel. Jun 3, 2005) (VoIP E911 Order).
2 ``Interconnected VoIP service'' means an interconnected Voice over
Internet Protocol (VoIP) service that: (1) enables real-time, two-way voice
communications; (2) requires a broadband connection from the user's
location; (3) requires Internet protocol-compatible customer premises
equipment; and (4) permits users generally to receive calls that originate
on the public switched telephone network and to terminate calls to the
public switched telephone network.
3 70 Fed. Reg. 37,273 (June 29, 2005).
4 VoIP E911 Order at ¶¶ 48, 73; see also 47 C.F.R. §9.5(e).