HomeMy WebLinkAboutTOLL.docxMEMORANDUM
TO:COMMISSIONER HANSEN
COMMISSIONER SMITH
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER
DON HOWELL
JOE CUSICK
FROM:WELDON STUTZMAN
DATE:MARCH 24, 1999
SUBJECT:FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION ORDER TO IMPLEMENT INTRALATA TOLL DIALING PARITY
On March 23, 1999, the Federal Communications Commission issued an order regarding the implementation of intraLATA toll dialing parity by all local exchange carriers (LECs), including bell operating companies. The FCC noted that its rules requiring toll dialing parity by February 8, 1999, had been reinstated by the Supreme Court decision in AT&T v. Iowa Utilities Board, 119 S.Ct. 721 (1999), but that the February 8 deadline could not be enforced as a practical matter. Thus, the FCC on its own motion granted a limited waiver of the rule establishing the previous deadline for full implementation of toll dialing parity.
The FCC order provides that in the small minority of states that have not yet implemented toll dialing parity, “that these states must be allowed sufficient time to review and approve intraLATA toll dialing parity plans within a reasonable, and enforceable, federal deadline.” Accordingly, the FCC order requires all LECs that have not yet filed plans to file intraLATA toll dialing parity plans with its state regulatory commission no later than April 22, 1999. The plan must provide for implementation no later than 30 days after approval of the plan by the state commission. If a state commission has not acted on the plan by June 22, 1999, the LEC must file the dialing parity implementation plan with the FCC’s Common Carrier Bureau.
The FCC order moves up the filing date for U S WEST to file its plan with this Commission from June 1, 1999 to April 22, 1999. Order No. 27965 issued by the Commission recognized that the FCC schedule must be adhered to by U S WEST if it precedes the filing date ordered by this Commission. I will be in contact with U S WEST’s counsel to ensure that U S WEST is aware of and complies with the April 22 filing date.
Weldon B. Stutzman
bls/M:toll.ws