[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 87 (Tuesday, May 6, 2014)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 25682-25683]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-10261]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
47 CFR Part 64
[WC Docket No 13-39; DA 14-526]
Rural Call Completion Order
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Comments requested.
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SUMMARY: This document seeks comment on whether additional guidance,
clarification, or modification regarding the ``answered'' and ``ring no
answer'' categories of call attempts described in Appendix C of the
Rural Call Completion Order is necessary. Appendix C provides a
spreadsheet that covered providers must use to file the required call
completion data with the Commission each quarter. This document seeks
comment on whether Appendix C should be clarified to eliminate any
basis for interpreting it inconsistently with the definition of
``answered call'' in the Order, and revise the description of ``ring no
answer'' call attempts in Appendix C to provide clearer guidance to
covered providers.
DATES: Comments must be filed by May 13, 2014.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by WC Docket No. 13-39,
by any of the following methods:
Federal Communications Commission's Web site: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
Email [email protected], and include the following words in the
body of the message: ``get form.'' A sample form and directions will be
sent in response. Include the docket numbers in the subject line of the
message.
Mail: Secretary, Federal Communications Commission, 445
12th Street SW., Washington, DC 20554.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gregory Kwan, Wireline Competition
Bureau, Competition Division, at (202) 418-1191 or by email at
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Bureau's document
in Rural Call Completion, FCC 13-135, published at 78 FR 76218,
December 17, 2013. The complete text of this document is available on
the Commission's Internet site at www.fcc.gov and for public inspection
Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Friday from 8 a.m.
to 11:30 a.m. in the Commission's Consumer and Governmental Affairs
Bureau Reference Information Center, Room CY-A257, 445 12th Street SW.,
Washington, DC 20554. The full text of this document may also be
purchased from the Commission's duplicating contractor, Best Copy and
Printing, Inc., Portals II, 445 12th Street SW., Washington, DC 20554,
telephone 202-488-5300, facsimile 202-488-5563, email at
[email protected], or via its Web site at http://www.bcpiweb.com.
Pursuant to sections 1.415 and 1.419 of the Commission's rules, 47
CFR 1.415, 1.419, interested parties may file comments and reply
comments on or before the dates indicated on the first page of this
document. Comments may be filed using the Commission's Electronic
Comment Filing System (ECFS). See Electronic Filing of Documents in
Rulemaking Proceedings, 63 FR 24121 (1998).
[[Page 25683]]
Electronic Filers: Comments may be filed electronically
using the Internet by accessing the ECFS: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs2/.
Paper Filers: Parties who choose to file by paper must
file an original and one copy of each filing. If more than one docket
or rulemaking number appears in the caption of this proceeding, filers
must submit two additional copies for each additional docket or
rulemaking number.
Filings can be sent by hand or messenger delivery, by commercial
overnight courier, or by first-class or overnight U.S. Postal Service
mail. All filings must be addressed to the Commission's Secretary,
Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission.
All hand-delivered or messenger-delivered paper filings
for the Commission's Secretary must be delivered to FCC Headquarters at
445 12th St. SW., Room TW-A325, Washington, DC 20554. The filing hours
are 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. All hand deliveries must be held together
with rubber bands or fasteners. Any envelopes and boxes 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 must be addressed to 445 12th Street SW., Washington DC 20554.
People with Disabilities: To request materials in accessible
formats for people with disabilities (braille, large print, electronic
files, audio format), send an email to [email protected] or call the
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202-418-0530 (voice), 202-
418-0432 (tty).
Synopsis
The Wireline Competition Bureau seeks comment on whether guidance
or additional clarification would assist providers with their filing
obligations related to the Rural Call Completion Order, FCC 13-135,
published at 78 FR 76218, December 17, 2013. Specifically, we seek
comment on whether to modify or otherwise provide assistance regarding
the criteria described in Appendix C of the Rural Call Completion Order
for categorizing certain types of call attempts. We release this
document in response to questions raised in the record regarding the
``answered'' and ``ring no answer'' categories of call attempts
described in Appendix C, pursuant to delegated authority. These
questions raise the possibility that the relevant criteria in Appendix
C were inadvertently drafted in a way that fails to reflect the
Commission's clear intent, as expressed in the Order.
``Answered'' call attempts. The reporting requirements in the Rural
Call Completion Order require covered providers to categorize call
attempts either as ``answered'' or as one of three types of calls that
are not answered: ``busy,'' ``ring no answer,'' or ``unassigned
number.'' The Rural Call Completion Order defines ``answered call'' as
a call that was answered by or on behalf of the called party
(including calls completed to devices, services or parties that
answer the call such as an interactive voice response, answering
service, voicemail or call-forwarding system), causing the network
to register that the terminating party is prepared to receive
information from the calling user.
The Commission emphasized that ``the call answer rate is the data point
least susceptible to variations in data reporting or to differences in
the quality or accuracy of signaling: the called party either answered
the call or did not answer the call.''
Appendix C of the Rural Call Completion Order provides a
spreadsheet that covered providers must use to file the required call
completion data with the Commission each quarter. The legend
accompanying the spreadsheet identifies specific ``ISUP Cause values
and corresponding SIP Response messages'' for each category of call
attempt. An ``answered'' call is described in Appendix C as a call
attempt ``signaled back with ISUP 16 & 31 and SIP BYE & CANCEL.''
In recent meetings with Commission staff, Level 3 and Verizon
explained that release cause code 16--one of the codes identified in
Appendix C as denoting an answered call--is also used to indicate that
the calling party has hung up before the called party answered. Level 3
contends that including calling-party hangups as answered calls would
result in a ``much higher'' reported call-completion rate than a
provider would report if it excluded them.
In this document, we seek comment on this contention and on whether
it would assist providers if the Bureau clarified that, as specified in
the Order, covered providers should record and report calls as
``answered'' only to the extent that such calls satisfy the definition
of ``answered call'' that appears in paragraph 72 of the Rural Call
Completion Order. Appendix C could be clarified to eliminate any basis
for interpreting it inconsistently with the definition of ``answered
call'' in the Order. If so, should the description of ``answered call''
in Appendix C be revised to include a different description (e.g., a
different set of release codes) of how networks identify answered
calls? Or should the legend in Appendix C simply be deleted, allowing
each covered provider to identify answered calls in a manner consistent
with the definition in the Rural Call Completion Order and with
industry practice?
``Ring no answer'' call attempts. The Rural Call Completion Order
requires covered providers to record and report ``ring no answer'' call
attempts, which are required to calculate the network effectiveness
ratio (NER). A ``ring no answer'' call is described in Appendix C as a
call attempt that is ``signaled back with ISUP 18 & 19 and IP 408 &
480.''
Level 3 asserted that some of the criteria in Appendix C for ``ring
no answer'' call attempts will only capture a very small percentage of
the intended call attempts. Verizon expressed concern about using call
signaling data to identify ``ring no answer'' calls at all. We
therefore seek comment on whether the description of ``ring no answer''
call attempts in Appendix C should be revised to provide clearer
guidance to covered providers, and if so, how. Alternatively, should
the legend in Appendix C be deleted, allowing each covered provider to
interpret the required call attempt categories in a manner consistent
with industry practice and with the Commission's stated intent in the
Rural Call Completion Order?
Federal Communications Commission.
Lisa S. Gelb,
Deputy Bureau Chief, Wireline Competition Bureau.
[FR Doc. 2014-10261 Filed 5-5-14; 8:45 am]
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