Call completion problems are “unacceptable,” Christopher Killion, the FCC Enforcement...

loudly demanded FCC action on this issue (CD Jan 28 p13). He spoke Monday at a NARUC panel. “We are convinced beyond a doubt that rural call competition is a real problem and a significant problem,” he said, saying there was never a question of whether the agency would move toward enforcement. He described, without detail, “what I would call large-scale investigations of carriers” and investigations of “more targeted complaints” in rural areas, where the agency has “actually resolved some complaints.” FCC protocol prevented him from elaborating on the investigations but he did say the agency is pressing companies, continuing investigations and that the data collected as a result of the FCC’s unposted notice of proposed rulemaking will “assist” that effort (CD Jan 25 p1). Killion agreed with commissioners that one of the “unique” challenges of call completion issues is that state commissioners often hear the complaints, not the FCC. “There’s no consistency, let’s put it that way,” he said of company records now. “They don’t even agree on the meaning of certain terms.” The NPRM would help give the agency “standardized records” to assess, he said. Wireline Bureau Chief Julie Veach said the notice is in front of the full commission now, and the FCC could have an order as soon as this fall if it acts “expeditiously.” “We want to do this right,” Veach said. The data collection procedures will need to hold up to challenges and should be the “least burdensome as possible for the providers,” she said.