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AT&T, NCTA Propose Changes to Draft FCC Rural Call Completion Order, NPRM

AT&T and NCTA sought revisions to the FCC rural call completion (RCC) draft on the agenda for Tuesday's commissioners' meeting (see 1803280046). A draft order and Further NPRM aim to replace reporting requirements with monitoring of intermediate carrier performance. AT&T…

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"generally supports" FCC efforts "to adopt a more effective regulatory approach ... particularly emphasizing providers' adherence to ATIS best practices in call completion," said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 13-39. The telco "also strongly agrees" with the agency that comprehensive intercarrier compensation "reform" will likely diminish financial incentives contributing to problems, and it urged the FCC "to take prompt action." But AT&T said the FCC "should clarify or revise" its proposed RCC rules so they don't encompass and benefit LECs "engaged in access stimulation" that has "exploited" agency rules. The FCC should also "clarify that any determination that a competitive LEC meets the relatively broad definition of 'rural telephone company' for purposes of the forthcoming [RCC] rules does not mean that the [CLEC] also satisfies the far more narrow definition of a 'rural CLEC' for purposes of the Commission's rural exemption to its CLEC access charge rules" (capping rates). NCTA backed the FCC proposals to eliminate RCC "reporting obligations of covered providers" and "not to impose specific call completion metrics on covered providers." But NCTA voiced concern about suggestions "that originating providers could be held solely responsible any time a call fails to complete," said a filing on a meeting with Wireline Bureau staffers that included proposed line edits. It also sought clearer FCC guidance on how covered providers comply with their monitoring obligation, encouragement that terminating providers notify covered providers' RCC contact persons before FCC staff, and a 12-month transition period before rules take effect. USTelecom said it "generally supports many of the items outlined in the draft order, and believes their final adoption by the Commission will alleviate burdens on covered carriers of collecting information that does not [serve] a useful purpose, while emphasizing monitoring of intermediate providers that more directly addresses potential call failures." NTCA voiced objections and proposed changes last week (see 1804060043).