Industry Responses to FCC Special Access Data Request Due on December 15th
September 19, 2014 | by Andrew Regitsky
Finally, in year nine of the FCC’s investigation into ILEC special access rates we may be getting somewhere! On September 15th, the FCC released an Order on Reconsideration in Docket 05-25 providing an edited request for data that special access providers and customers must fulfill by December 15, 2014.
The Commission’s original and then self-modified data request was paired down by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in August.The OMB modified or eliminated some of the data required to ease the burden on data responders. Still, that agency projects that it will take 134 hours for the average respondent to collect the requested data. The FCC will issue a future order to provide details for respondents to electronically file the requested data. The Commission will also issue a separate order for the designation and handling of information deemed confidential.
The aggregated data will be used by the Commission to conduct a comprehensive market analysis to determine how it should regulate future ILEC special access prices terms and conditions. The Commission already determined that its current method of granting ILECs pricing flexibility based on certain competitive triggers being achieved has failed to adequately control ILEC special access prices. Therefore, it has suspended the granting pricing flexibility in additional metropolitan statistical areas until its market analysis is completed.
In the Order on Reconsideration, the FCC modified its data request to comply with the OMB edict. Here are the important changes:
Data is Required for 2013 Only – Respondents must provide data for only a single calendar year - the most recent year for which data exists (i.e., 2013)
Special Access Purchasers that must Provide Data – Include only common carriers and end users that are subject to the Commission’s jurisdiction under the 1934 Communications Act, as amended and that purchased at least $5 million in Dedicated Services in 2013 in areas in which the ILEC is subject to price cap regulation.
Request for Proposals (RFPs) – CLECs are required to provide data only for RFPs in which they were the winning carrier. CLECs can supply information on unsuccessful bids on a voluntary basis.
Much of the Initial Data Request is Now Voluntary - Expenditures for each type of special access circuit purchased through an ILEC or CLEC tariff or contract, and the tariff that was used to purchase each circuit. In addition, special access purchasers are only requited to provide expenditures by bandwidth if they normally keep such details in the normal course of doing business.
CLLI Codes - For ILEC wire centers must only be reported if kept in the normal course of business. Otherwise, respondents can provide information on a voluntary basis.
Locations with Connections – Special access providers are only required to provide the geocode for s given location if the provider keeps such information in the normal course of business. However, the provider can chose to provide this information on a voluntary basis.
Fiber Maps and the Reporting of Nodes used to Interconnect with Third Party networks - Cable companies are not required to show the feeder links to locations, only their interoffice transport fiber network. In addition, cable companies are only required to report their headends (i.e., nodes) that they have upgraded to provide metro Ethernet service, or its functional equivalent.
Please note some other important definitions for this data submission:
Special access providers that must provide data - Include both ILECs and CLECs with an expansive definition for a CLEC. An ILEC includes any LEC that provides a Dedicated Service in a study area where it is subject to price cap regulation. A CLEC means a competitive local exchange carrier, interexchange carrier, cable operator, wireless provider or any other entity that is subject to the Commission’s jurisdiction under the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, and either provides a Dedicated Service or provides a connection over which a Dedicated Service could be provided. A competitive provider does not include an ILEC operating within its incumbent service territory.
A Connection - Means a wired “line” or wireless “channel” that provides a dedicated communication path between a location and the first node on a provider’s network. Multiple dedicated communication paths serving one or more End Users at the same Location should be counted as a single Connection. A Connection may be a UNE, including an Unbundled Copper Loop if modified to provide a Dedicated Service. A Connection must have the capability of being used to provide one or more Dedicated Services.
Dedicated Service – Provides for the transport of data between two or more designated points, i.e., between an end user’s premises and a point-of-presence, between the central office of a LEC and a point-of-presence, or between two end user premises, at a rate of at least 1.5 Mbps in both directions.
The instructions for the data submission are almost 100 pages in length and can be found at: http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2014/db0915/DA-14-1327A1.pdf.
With the OMB predicting that there will be approximately 4,000 entities required to submit data, and the average response requiring 134 hours, those entities that are unsure about whether they must submit data or lacking familiarity with special access terms and conditions cannot wait any longer to familiarize themselves with the data requirements. If your company is required to provide data and does not, it is subject to a large fine. Please make sure you know where your company stands regarding this data request.
By Andrew Regitsky, President, Regitsky & Associates
