[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 88 (Friday, May 7, 2010)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 25156-25159]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-10853]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
47 CFR Part 54
[WC Docket No. 05-337, CC Docket No. 96-45, WC Docket No. 03-109; FCC
10-57]
High-Cost Universal Service Support, Federal-State Joint Board on
Universal Service, Lifeline and Link-Up
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.
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SUMMARY: In this document, the Commission proposes targeted rule
changes to help eligible consumers in Puerto Rico take better advantage
of existing universal service low-income support programs.
Specifically, the Commission asks whether it should provide additional
Link-Up support to help offset special construction charges incurred by
consumers when facilities must be built to provide them with access to
voice telephone service. By removing a remaining impediment to
affordable voice telephone service, the Commission would hope to
further close the gap in telephone subscribership between the
Commonwealth and non-insular areas.
DATES: Comments on the proposed rules are due on or before June 7, 2010
and reply comments are due on or before June 21, 2010.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by WC Docket No. 05-337,
CC Docket No. 96-45, WC Docket No. 03-109, by any of the following
methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
[[Page 25157]]
Federal Communications Commission's Web Site: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs2/. Follow the instructions for submitting
comments.
People with Disabilities: Contact the FCC to request
reasonable accommodations (accessible format documents, sign language
interpreters, CART, etc.) by e-mail: [email protected] or phone: (202)
418-0530 or TTY: (202) 418-0432.
For detailed instructions for submitting comments and additional
information on the rulemaking process, see the SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION section of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ted Burmeister, Wireline Competition
Bureau, Telecommunications Access Policy Division, (202) 418-7389 or
TTY: (202) 418-0484.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a synopsis of the Commission's
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in WC Docket No. 05-337, CC Docket No.
96-45, WC Docket No. 03-109, FCC 10-57, adopted April 16, 2010, and
released April 16, 2010. The complete text of this document is
available for inspection and copying during normal business hours in
the FCC Reference Information Center, Portals II, 445 12th Street, SW.,
Room CY-A257, Washington, DC 20554. The document may also be purchased
from the Commission's duplicating contractor, Best Copy and Printing,
Inc., 445 12th Street, SW., Room CY-B402, Washington, DC 20554,
telephone (800) 378-3160 or (202) 863-2893, facsimile (202) 863-2898,
or via the Internet at http://www.bcpiweb.com. It is also available on
the Commission's Web site at http://www.fcc.gov.
Pursuant to Sec. Sec. 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: (1) The Commission's Electronic
Comment Filing System (ECFS), (2) the Federal Government's eRulemaking
Portal, or (3) by filing paper copies. See Electronic Filing of
Documents in Rulemaking Proceedings, 63 FR 24121, May 1, 1998.
Electronic Filers: Comments may be filed electronically
using the Internet by accessing the ECFS: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/
or the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Filers
should follow the instructions provided on the Web site for submitting
comments.
Paper Filers: Parties who choose to file by paper must
file an original and four copies 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 (although we continue to experience delays in receiving U.S.
Postal Service mail). All filings must be addressed to the Commission's
Secretary, Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission.
[cir] 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 a.m. to 7 p.m. All hand deliveries must be held together with rubber
bands or fasteners. Any envelopes must be disposed of before entering
the building.
[cir] 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.
[cir] U.S. Postal Service first-class, Express, and Priority mail
should be addressed to 445 12th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20554.
In addition, one copy of each pleading must be sent to each of the
following:
The Commission's duplicating contractor, Best Copy and
Printing, Inc, 445 12th Street, SW., Room CY-B402, Washington, DC
20554; Web site: http://www.bcpiweb.com; phone: 1-800-378-3160; and
Charles Tyler, Telecommunications Access Policy Division,
Wireline Competition Bureau, 445 12th Street, SW., Room 5-A452,
Washington, DC 20554; e-mail: [email protected].
People with Disabilities: To request materials in accessible
formats for people with disabilities (Braille, large print, electronic
files, audio format), send an e-mail to [email protected] or call the
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice) or
(202) 418-0432 (TTY). Contact the FCC to request reasonable
accommodations for filing comments (accessible format documents, sign
language interpreters, CART, etc.) by e-mail: [email protected]; phone:
(202) 418-0530 or (202) 418-0432 (TTY).
Filings and comments are also available for public inspection and
copying during regular business hours at the FCC Reference Information
Center, Portals II, 445 12th Street, SW., Room CY-A257, Washington, DC,
20554. Copies may also be purchased from the Commission's duplicating
contractor, BCPI, 445 12th Street, SW., Room CY-B402, Washington, DC
20554. Customers may contact BCPI through its Web site: http://www.bcpiweb.com, by e-mail at [email protected], by telephone at (202)
488-5300 or (800) 378-3160 (voice), (202) 488-5562 (TTY), or by
facsimile at (202) 488-5563.
I. Synopsis of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
1. Although the Commission declines to establish the universal
service high-cost support mechanism proposed by Puerto Rico Telephone
Company (PRTC), the Commission acknowledges that there may be a
significant number of low-income consumers in Puerto Rico who remain
unable to afford access to voice telephone service. Telephone
subscribership in Puerto Rico has increased dramatically since the
Commission released its notice of proposed rulemaking in 2005. Despite
these gains, subscribership in Puerto Rico remains materially lower
than in any other jurisdiction reported by the Census Bureau. In
addition, a significantly higher percentage of Puerto Rican families
are below the poverty threshold than the general U.S. population, with
approximately 41 percent of Puerto Rican families reporting income
below the poverty threshold between 2006 and 2008, as compared to
approximately 10 percent of total U.S. families reporting income below
the poverty threshold during the same time period. The State with the
next highest percentage of families reporting income below the poverty
threshold is Mississippi at 16.7 percent. Not only does Puerto Rico
have the highest percentage of households with incomes below the
poverty level of any jurisdiction reported by the Census Bureau, but it
has the lowest median household income as well. Specifically, the
median household income in Puerto Rico in 2007 was $17,741 compared
with a national median household income of $50,740. The State with the
next lowest median household income is West Virginia, with a median
household income of $37,060--over twice the median household income in
Puerto Rico. Evidence in the record suggests that infrastructure does
not yet reach some subscribers, so some people may not be subscribing
because they cannot afford to pay the special construction charges
associated with building facilities to reach them. The confluence of
these two factors--a subscribership rate lower than any other reported
jurisdiction's and an exceptionally high rate of poverty--causes us to
believe that additional low-
[[Page 25158]]
income support may be appropriate in this jurisdiction. To address this
situation and to ensure that low-income consumers in Puerto Rico can
take advantage of the assistance available to them through the existing
universal service Lifeline and Link Up low-income support programs, we
propose to amend our rules to allow eligible low-income consumers in
Puerto Rico additional support through the Link Up Program to offset
special construction charges incurred if additional facilities are
required to provide them with access to voice telephone service.
2. The Commission in the Twelfth Report and Order, 65 FR 47941,
August 4, 2000, took measures to address impediments to telephone
subscribership and infrastructure investment on Tribal lands, including
the adoption of enhanced Link Up support. The Commission identified a
number of factors that are primary impediments to subscribership on
Tribal lands, including the cost of basic voice service, the cost of
intrastate toll service, inadequate telecommunications infrastructure
and the cost of line extensions, and the lack of competitive service
providers offering alternative technologies. At that time, however, the
Commission chose not to extend the actions taken in the Twelfth Report
and Order to all high-cost areas and all insular areas, including
Puerto Rico. Although the record demonstrated that subscribership
levels were below the national average in other low-income, rural areas
and in certain insular areas, the Commission found that the factors
causing low subscribership on Tribal lands were not the same factors
causing low subscribership in those other jurisdictions. We recognize
that is still the case today: while Puerto Rico faces a lower telephone
subscriber rate and a higher poverty rate than other jurisdictions, the
Commonwealth does not appear to suffer from other impediments to
subscribership that affect Tribal lands, notably higher cost to provide
voice telephone service and a lack of competitive service providers
offering voice service via alternative technologies. Moreover, Puerto
Rico has a much higher telephone subscribership rate (approximately 92
percent in 2008) than the subscribership rate we found on reservations
when we adopted the Twelfth Report and Order (approximately 47
percent).
3. Importantly, however, the Commission's decision in 2000 to limit
the measures adopted in the Twelfth Report and Order to Tribal lands
was driven by its ``concern[] that to devise a remedy addressing all
low subscribership issues for all unserved or underserved populations
simultaneously might unnecessarily delay action on behalf of those who
are least served, i.e., Tribal communities.'' In other words, the
Commission placed higher priority on increasing telephone
subscribership on Tribal lands--it did not determine that no further
action was needed to assist other unserved or underserved populations.
The Commission has long attributed Puerto Rico's historically lagging
telephone subscribership penetration rate to low per-capita income.
Thus, to the extent that parties have identified line extension and
construction costs as obstacles to affordable telephone service in
Puerto Rico, extending the enhanced Link Up support already available
to Tribal lands could likewise ``increase subscribership among
qualifying low-income individuals [in Puerto Rico] by minimizing
certain of these up-front costs.'' Indeed, by further reducing the
initial connection charges and line extension charges for qualifying
low-income customers in Puerto Rico, as we already have for consumers
living on Tribal lands, we would hope to remove a remaining impediment
to affordable voice telephone service and, thus, further close the gap
in telephone subscribership between the Commonwealth and non-insular
areas.
4. Specifically, for the benefit of consumers in Puerto Rico
meeting the eligibility criteria for the Lifeline and Link Up Programs,
we propose to amend our rules to increase the cap on Link Up support to
cover special construction charges. The cap for these charges would be
increased from the current $30 limit to $100. This additional $70 in
Link Up support would cap Link Up discounts at the same level as the
enhanced Link Up available to eligible residents of Tribal lands. Link
Up support would be available to eligible low-income consumers in
Puerto Rico for up to 100 percent of the special construction charges,
subject to the $100 cap. Under our rules, Link Up support would
continue to be available ``for a single telecommunications connection
at a consumer's principal place of residence.'' To ensure reasonable
use of the support, this support would be available only when a low-
income-eligible consumer in Puerto Rico has requested service under the
Lifeline or Link Up Programs but such service could not be provided
absent construction of additional facilities. Consistent with our
rules, all ETCs in Puerto Rico would be required to offer and make
available this additional Link Up support to eligible low-income
consumers. All ETCs in Puerto Rico also would be required to advertise
the availability of this additional Link Up support using media of
general distribution in Puerto Rico. In addition, all ETCs receiving
Link Up support in Puerto Rico would be required to report the number
of consumers that request such additional Link Up support, the number
of consumers that receive such support, the reasons why any requesting
consumers did not qualify for or receive such support, the cost of
constructing the additional facilities, and a description of the
additional facilities constructed. This information would be included
in the annual report required by section 54.209 of our rules. We seek
comment on these proposed revisions to the low-income support rules for
eligible low-income consumers in Puerto Rico.
II. Procedural Matters
A. Initial Paperwork Reduction Analysis
5. This notice of proposed rulemaking contains proposed information
collections that would apply to fewer than ten respondents and, as a
result, is not subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. In
addition, it does not contain any new, modified, or proposed
``information collection burden for small business concerns with fewer
than 25 employees'' pursuant to the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act
of 2002.
B. Initial Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification
6. The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), see 5 U.S.C. 603, requires
that an agency prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis for notice-
and-comment rulemaking proceedings, unless the agency certifies that
``the rule will not, if promulgated, have a significant economic impact
on a substantial number of small entities.'' The RFA generally defines
``small entity'' as having the same meaning as the terms ``small
business,'' ``small organization,'' and ``small governmental
jurisdiction.'' In addition, the term ``small business'' has the same
meaning as the term ``small business concern'' under the Small Business
Act. A ``small business concern'' is one which: (1) Is independently
owned and operated; (2) is not dominant in its field of operation; and
(3) satisfies any additional criteria established by the Small Business
Administration (SBA).
7. In this notice of proposed rulemaking, we propose to revise the
Commission's rules to permit eligible telecommunications carriers
serving Puerto Rico to recover additional universal service support
under
[[Page 25159]]
specified circumstances. Currently, there are 7 eligible
telecommunications carriers serving Puerto Rico, none of which qualify
as a small entity. Accordingly, the proposed rule will not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
8. The Commission therefore certifies, pursuant to the RFA, that
the proposals in this notice of proposed rulemaking, if adopted, will
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities. If commenters believe that the proposals discussed in the
notice of proposed rulemaking require additional RFA analysis, they
should include a discussion of these issues in their comments and
additionally label them as RFA comments. The Commission will send a
copy of the notice of proposed rulemaking, including a copy of this
initial certification, to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the SBA. In
addition, a copy of the notice of proposed rulemaking and this initial
certification will be published in the Federal Register.
C. Ex Parte Presentations
9. This proceeding shall be treated as a ``permit-but-disclose''
proceeding in accordance with the Commission's ex parte rules. Persons
making oral ex parte presentations are reminded that memoranda
summarizing the presentations must contain summaries of the substance
of the presentations and not merely a listing of the subjects
discussed. More than a one or two sentence description of the views and
arguments presented is generally required. Other requirements
pertaining to oral and written presentations are set forth in Sec.
1.1206(b) of the Commission's rules.
List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 54
Communications Common Carriers, Low income, Puerto Rico, Reporting
and record keeping requirements, Schools, Telecommunications,
Telephone.
Marlene H. Dortch,
Secretary, Federal Communications Commission.
Proposed Rules
For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Federal
Communications Commission proposes to amend 47 CFR part 54 as follows:
PART 54--UNIVERSAL SERVICE
1. The authority citation continues to read as follows:
Authority: 47 U.S.C. 151, 154(i), 201, 205, 214, and 254 unless
otherwise noted.
2. Section 54.411 is amended by revising the first sentence of
paragraphs (a)(3), the second sentence of paragraph (b), and by adding
paragraph (e) to read as follows:
Sec. 54.411 Link Up program defined.
(a) * * *
(3) For an eligible resident of Tribal lands or Puerto Rico, a
reduction of up to $70, in addition to the reduction in paragraph
(a)(1) of this section, to cover 100 percent of the charges between $60
and $130 assessed for commencing telecommunications service at the
principal place of residence of the eligible resident of Tribal lands
or Puerto Rico. * * *
(b) * * * An eligible resident of Tribal lands or Puerto Rico may
participate in paragraphs (a)(1), (a)(2), and (a)(3) of this section.
* * * * *
(e) In order to receive enhanced Link Up support for discounted
connection charges provided to eligible residents of Puerto Rico
pursuant to paragraph (a)(3) of this section, an eligible
telecommunication carrier must comply with the following requirements:
(1) An eligible low-income consumer in Puerto Rico has requested
service under the Lifeline or Link Up Programs but such service could
not be provided absent construction of additional facilities.
(2) The eligible telecommunications carrier must report the number
of consumers that request such additional Link Up support, the number
of consumers that receive such support, the reasons why any requesting
consumers did not qualify for or receive such support, the cost of
constructing the additional facilities, and a description of the
additional facilities constructed. This information must be included in
the annual report required by section 54.209 of our rules.
[FR Doc. 2010-10853 Filed 5-6-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P