APPENDIX D A. INTRODUCTION In early 1978, Urban Institute staff conducted interviews with FCC Common Carrier Bureau staff. Urban Institute Working Paper 1198-70-01, which resulted from those interviews, contains descriptions of FCC Common Carrier Bureau (CCB) organization including roles played by the different groups and some specific activities of the Domestic Branch of the Facilities and Services Division; the Tariff Review and Tariff Proceedings Branch; Complaints and Service Standards Branch; and the Hearings Division. The working paper is written in terms of PMS regulatory situations; however, these same operations and procedures apply to all types of services regulated. The CCB administration and support groups (e.g., Policy and Rules, Economics Division, etc.) were described as outcomes. playing a less direct role in producing most line regulation to be assigned partial responsibility for processing the filing. The managers of the FCC-CCB branches and divisions are the staff's communications links with the administration and support groups. The Chief of the CCB is their link with the commissioners and policymakers. The following displays depict information gained from these earlier interviews in terms of activities and participants: 1. Figure D-1: FCC Operational Activity • Figure D-2: Main Activity Interfaces of Entities Identified Bell, James. The FCC/ETIP Regulatory Experiment, (Draft) The Urban Institute, Working Paper Number 1198-70-01, May 3, 1978, p. 19. The Urban Institute, Washington, D.C., The FCC/ETIP Regulatory Experiment. Bell, James. FIGURE D-1: FCC OPERATIONAL ACTIVITY As you will note from Figure D-2, the early discussions concentrated almost entirely on FCC operations; Agency interactions with carriers (as relates to the carriers getting into business, doing business with emphasis on performance, and getting out of business); and the traditional legal process which has been the linchpin of the regulatory operations. B. EVALUATOR OBSERVATION OF CCB OPERATIONS Figure D-2, the interface activities, shows that the two main areas of interaction among entities is in the Tariff Review and Facilities sections. These two divisions were selected for further investigation. 214 was taken. A sampling of 183 specialized carrier applications required under Section Requirements for Section 214 authority are described in Part 63 of the Code of Federal Regulations (47 CFR). These regulations are concerned with extensions and supplements of facilities (actual transmission systems, plants, equipment, etc.), and discontinuances, impairments and reductions in service (either voluntary or involuntary). tioned above are shown in Table D-1. The findings of the sampling men An additional 51 applications were studied in greater detail. Of these, 40 applications were specifically in compliance with Section 63.03 of Part 63, which concerns supplementing existing facilities and which is considered a minor action. The types of companies filing were Bell, independent telephone companies, or joint filings by Bell and independent telephone companies. The average FCC processing time was 17.5 calendar days. Filings were based on geographic networks; in other words, although permission for one huge. expansion may be sought by a company, separate filings must be processed |