FCC Rural Call Completion Order Circulated
The FCC’s rural call completion order has been circulated, agency officials said Tuesday. The order will “enhance the FCC’s ability to investigate and crack down” on the problem of calls that don’t reach their rural destinations, said Acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn in a written statement (http://bit.ly/17HI1li). A safe harbor would exempt carriers from reporting requirements if they use no more than two intermediate providers, an agency official told us.
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The commission is largely adopting the record retention and reporting requirements in an NPRM from earlier this year, said an official. The requirements will apply to the initial long-distance party that determines the call routing path, said the official. Most providers will have to retain data on call completion rates for six months.
The safe harbors are different than what was proposed in the NPRM, the official said. In the NPRM, the commission contemplated exempting providers that can certify that the average answer rate to rural carriers was “no more than 2 percent less” than that to nonrural carriers. The circulating order, in contrast, would offer a safe harbor to long distance providers that limit the number of intermediate providers to two or fewer, the FCC official said. This is to encourage the industry to move to fewer intermediate providers, as the more intermediate providers there are, the greater likelihood there are problems, the official said. Those which fall into the safe harbor would still have to retain data, but for less time -- only three months.
Some associations had asked the commission to take steps beyond simply collecting data showing there’s a problem, in comments on the NPRM. The safe harbor is designed to ensure that the problem gets better, said the FCC official. Giving providers an incentive to use no more than two intermediate providers will move the industry toward a call routing paradigm that significantly will help the problem, the official said.
The order also contains language banning fake ringing tones that a provider plays to lead a caller to believe the call is being connected when it is still in the routing process, said the agency official. A further NPRM on circulation would ask for more information about next steps the commission should take, once it gets the data, to further reduce call completion problems, said the official.
NARUC said it was pleased Clyburn “has made call completion a priority and pressed for a response to the rulemaking.” The association will “strongly advocate for more specific FCC enforcement proceedings against bad actors,” said NARUC Telecom Committee Chairman John Burke. NTCA said it’s “hopeful” the order will be a “significant step forward” to ensure that its members no longer “suffer from this epidemic.” USTelecom is “grateful” to Clyburn for her commitment to finding a solution to the problem, said President Walter McCormick. “Call completion is a consumer issue, a competition issue and a public safety issue.”
"I see this as a positive step forward and hope it will give the Commission additional tools to stop the bad actors failing to complete calls to rural areas,” said Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., in a written statement. “These problems have gone on for far too long, and those breaking the rules need to be held accountable. I will keep putting pressure on the Commission to take swift and decisive action that will restore quality and reliable telephone service in rural America.”