The FCC Public Message Services Policy Change

for each point-to-point geographic area. A simple count of filings might be misleading as far as actual number of projects--depending on how "project"

is defined.

Another type of information which can be gleaned from these filings is which carriers are leasing, renting or purchasing facilities from other carriers rather than constructing their own. All requests (new constructions, purchases, etc.) gave probable costs; for example, maximum yearly rental which would be paid. Two requests were for special temporary authority; for example, satellite transmission of Madison Square Garden events to cable television. These requests took 20 and 21 days to process--slightly longer Of these 40 filings, all had been approved.

than the average.

The remaining 11 filings concerned 63.01 of Part 63 which concerns installation/extension of cable and carrier

the following types of changes:

systems or rerouting of interstate channels.

requests.

This is considered a major

action--perhaps because environmental impact is a factor in approving these Each file contained a "Telephone Wire Application" form and copies of the requests were sent to the Secretary of Defense and Governor of the state affected by the proposed change. The average processing time was 42.5 days--twice as long as for the other type of application.

detail.

The Western Union Telegraph Company applications were not studied in However, a review of Part 63 indicates that in addition to requests for facilities extensions and supplements, Western Union must also submit an application to Facilities if it wishes to close or reduce hours at any its agencies or offices. Most of these sections of Part 63 will probably be deleted and/or simplified in some way by the deregulation.

The changed pro

cedures for this type of Facilities application could be used as a measurement of change in the amount of paperwork for both Western Union and the FCC.

In summary, direct observation gave the following information:

The basic responsibilities of Facilities was as described in the
early phase;

Operational aspects of Facilities were not verified or observed;

Types of information which could be developed from the files were: carrier's name; type of carrier; amount of activity; type of activity, being undertaken; type of transmission facilities; name of underlying carrier, if any; service locations by state; FCC processing time; and number of filings approved/disapproved;

Several new entities were added to the environment: the Defense
Department, State Governments, and environmentalists.

In April/May 1978, several interviews were conducted with Tariff Review staff. The basic operation of the Tariff Division was described in the early phase; however, these later interviews filled in a great deal of detail.

Part 61 of 47 CFR are the rules governing tariff. Many of the specific rules have to do with definitions and format. Section 61.38 concerns economic

support data.

Section 61.58 concerns notice requirements. Table D-2 shows

the relationship of notice and petition periods.

b. TARIFF REVIEW OPERATIONS

In September 1976, to offset the time lag that developed as a filing was routed from the Secretary's Office (or the Mailroom) to the Tariff Review Section, the carriers were requested to provide courtesy copies to the Tariff Review Section at the same time they sent the original filing to the Secretary's office. Another reason for this request was that today, especially with the

* Tariff automatically becomes effective on the scheduled effective date if no action taken by the Commission to either suspend or reject the tariff filing. If a party does file a petition or objection, or if FCC staff has questions, FCC can order extension to 90 days. FCC not really locked into these time periods since Congress passed law, that it could use its own discretion regarding 90-day notice period.

Source: 47 CFR, Section 61.58; interview with CCB staff, August 1978.

emergence of the specialized carriers (which will be discussed later in this paper) and existence of greater competition in the marketplace, the FCC-CCB Tariff Review Section receives many requests for information about who has submitted filings, what the filings apply for, etc., from the public.

A daily log of tariff courtesy copies received is kept. This log records which carriers filed and also a brief summary about each application.

Another official count is

The

courtesy copies, however, are not mandatory.
compiled in tabular form showing only the total number of tariffs received
monthly. An analysis was done of all courtesy copy logs as of April 1978--
almost 2,000. This was compared with the total official court. This showed

that approximately 82 percent of carriers submit courtesy copies of filings. One FCC staff person suggested that the other 18 percent were probably minor filings by radio common carriers; but a later study of all official tariffs did not seem to bear this out. If the courtesy logs were used as a proxy of tariff activity, a greater effort would be needed to examine which types of carriers are not submitting courtesy copies. Or, the Agency could simply make courtesy copies mandatory. They are considering this anyway for the sake of efficiency.

one is for

Two checklist forms are used by the tariff review staff: the tariff itself and the other is for the cost support material. Exhibits D-1 and D-2 below.)

(See

The tariff checklist assists the reviewer in examining the tariff for format; the cost support checklist also assists in a review of format. Exhibit D-3 is a Commission description regarding background information about Section 61.38 on cost support requirements.

Each reviewer has the option to make recommendations about whether or not to consult the supervisor on a possible problem filing; e.g., a filing which may prompt a petition. The last section on the tariff review checklist asks about supervisory action. If there is a complaint or possible problem area, it may take one or two weeks for the tariff to be finally checked out by "higher-ups" in the Tariff Branch. As far as cost support sections of filings, analysis of cost support data are not written unless a problem exists. And even if a petition is received, usually the cost support analysis is verbally described to the attorney.

C. INFORMATION ABOUT REVIEWER'S TIME

Staff effort expended in the tariff review process is difficult to measure in "time." A staff member interviewed said that, even for an established