Special Access Proceeding; Data Collection Amended to Reflect OMB Approval; Filing Deadline Announced; Petitions for Reconsideration Addressed, 57811-57828 [2014-22868]

Agencies

• FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 187 (Friday, September 26, 2014)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 57811-57828]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-22868]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 69

[WC Docket No. 05-25; RM-10593; DA 14-1327]


Special Access Proceeding; Data Collection Amended to Reflect OMB 
Approval; Filing Deadline Announced; Petitions for Reconsideration 
Addressed

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: In this Order on Reconsideration, the Wireline Competition 
Bureau (Bureau) amends the special access data collection, outlined in 
the Commission's Data Collection Order to reflect the approval received 
from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) pursuant to the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), Public Law 104-13. The 
Commission also announces that responses to the data collection are due 
by December 15, 2014 and addresses two petitions seeking 
reconsideration of the Data Collection Implementation Order released by 
the Bureau that clarified and amended the collection. These actions 
allow the Commission to move forward with the collection of data for a 
comprehensive analysis of the special access market. This collection is 
vital to the Commission's efforts to reform the rules applicable to the 
provision of special access services by incumbent local exchange 
carriers (ILECs) in areas subject to price cap regulation.

DATES: Effective October 27, 2014. On August 15, 2014, the Commission 
obtained OMB approval for the data collection under OMB Control No. 
3060-1197. In this document, WC Docket No. 05-25; RM-10593; DA 14-1327, 
the Commission amends the collection to reflect the approval received 
from OMB and announces that responses to the collection are due by 
December 15, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christopher Koves, Wireline 
Competition Bureau, Pricing Policy Division, at (202) 418-8209 or (202) 
418-0484 (tty), or via email at Christopher.koves@fcc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commission's Order 
on Reconsideration, DA 14-1327, adopted and released on September 15, 
2014. Appendix A contains definitions and the information requested in 
the data collection. Appendix B contains the

[[Page 57812]]

Supplemental Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis. The full text of 
this document is also available for public inspection during regular 
business hours in the Commission's Reference Center, 445 12th Street 
SW., Room CY-A257, Washington, DC 20554. The complete text may be 
purchased from Best Copy and Printing, Inc., 445 12th Street SW., Room 
CY-B402, Washington, DC 20554. To request alternate formats for persons 
with disabilities (e.g. Braille, large print, electronic files, audio 
format, etc.) or reasonable accommodations for filing comments (e.g. 
accessible format documents, sign language interpreters, CARTS, etc.), 
send an email to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Commission's Consumer and 
Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice) or (202) 418-0432 
(TTY).

Background

    Special access, also referred to as Dedicated Service, encompasses 
dedicated transmission services for voice and data traffic that do not 
use local switches. This service is used by businesses and competitive 
providers to connect customer locations and networks with dedicated, 
high-capacity links. As recognized in the Commission's National 
Broadband Plan, ``[s]pecial access circuits play a significant role in 
the availability and pricing of broadband service.''
    In August 2012, the Commission suspended further automatic grants 
of special access pricing flexibility to ILECs, determining based on 
``significant evidence that these rules, adopted in 1999, are not 
working as predicted, and widespread agreement across industry sectors 
that these rules fail to accurately reflect competition in today's 
special access markets.'' FCC 12-92, 77 FR 57504, Sept. 18, 2012. On 
December 18, 2012, the Commission released the Data Collection Order, 
outlining a data collection for an analysis of the special access 
market. FCC 12-153, 78 FR 2572, Jan. 11, 2013. Services covered by the 
collection include traditional special access service (including DS1s 
and DS3s), Packet-Based Dedicated Service (PBDS) such as Ethernet, and 
Best Efforts Business Broadband Internet Access Service to ensure a 
``clear picture of all competition in the marketplace.'' Those required 
to respond to the data collection include Providers and Purchasers of 
special access services and certain entities providing Best Efforts 
Business Broadband Internet Access Service. The collection required 
data on a nationwide basis for areas where the ILEC is subject to price 
cap regulation (i.e., price cap areas) with the majority of data from 
calendar years 2010 and 2012. The Commission provided an ``initial 
version'' of the questions and definitions for the collection as an 
appendix to the order.
    In the Special Access FNPRM, the Commission proposed to conduct a 
one-time, multi-faceted market analysis. FCC 12-153, 78 FR 2600, Jan. 
11, 2013. The analysis would evaluate ``how the intensity of 
competition (or lack thereof), whether actual or potential, affects 
prices, controlling for all other factors that affect prices'' and 
would provide an evidentiary record for reforming the Commission's 
special access rules applicable to ILECs. The analysis would evaluate 
market structure and include, to the extent practicable, 
``econometrically sound panel regressions . . . of the prices for 
special access on characteristics such as (1) the number of facilities-
based competitors (both actual and potential); (2) the availability of, 
pricing of, and demand for best efforts business broadband Internet 
access services; (3) the characteristics of the purchased service; and 
(4) other factors that influence the pricing decisions of special 
access providers, including cost determinants (e.g., density of sales) 
and factors that deliver economies of scale and scope (e.g., level of 
sales).'' Because of the various factors that may influence competition 
at a particular location, the Commission designed the collection to 
obtain detailed data at the location level. The Commission also 
proposed to analyze the information from Purchasers, as well as 
Providers, to assess the reasonableness of terms and conditions offered 
by ILECs for special access service.
    The Commission delegated authority to the Bureau to implement the 
data collection. The Commission's delegation gives the Bureau authority 
to: ``(a) draft instructions to the data collection and modify the data 
collection based on public feedback; (b) amend the data collection 
based on feedback received through the PRA process; (c) make 
corrections to the data collection to ensure it reflects the 
Commission's needs as expressed in [the Data Collection Order]; . . . 
(d) issue Bureau-level orders and Public Notices specifying the 
production of specific types of data, specifying a collection mechanism 
(including necessary forms or formats), and set[] deadlines for 
response to ensure that data collections are complied with in a timely 
manner; and (e) take other such actions as are necessary to implement 
[the Data Collection Order] . . . consistent with [its] terms . . . .'' 
The Commission further stated that ``[t]o the extent the Bureau cannot 
obtain Office of Management and Budget approval for some portion of the 
data collection, we direct the Bureau to proceed with the remainder of 
the collection.''
    On September 18, 2013, the Bureau released the Data Collection 
Implementation Order clarifying the scope of the collection, providing 
instructions on how to respond to the data collection questions, and 
providing a list of all modifications and amendments to the data 
collection questions and definitions. DA 13-1909, 78 FR 67053, Nov. 8, 
2013. These actions were based on feedback received from potential 
respondents, including the PRA comments filed with the Commission 
during the 60-day public comment period, and the Bureau's further 
internal review. The Bureau subsequently submitted the collection to 
OMB for review as required by the PRA.
    In December 2013, the Small Purchasers Coalition (Coalition) and 
the Blooston Private Microwave Licensees (Blooston) filed petitions for 
reconsideration of the Data Collection Implementation Order. The 
Coalition urged the Bureau to exempt small purchasers from the 
collection or to alternatively: (1) Limit the collection to 2013 data; 
(2) exempt self-provisioned special access facilities from the 
collection; (3) exempt providers of special access to affiliated 
entities from the collection; and (4) narrow the scope of quantitative 
data from Purchasers. MTPCS, LLC d/b/a Cellular One (MTPCS) filed 
comments in support, and the Independent Telephone and 
Telecommunications Alliance (ITTA) opposed the request. Blooston, asked 
for reconsideration of the Bureau's decision not to categorically 
exclude entities that use fixed point-to-point microwave services on a 
non-common carrier basis from the definition of Purchasers. The 
Utilities Telecom Council (UTC) filed comments in support and asked the 
Commission to also exclude non-common carrier licensees in the Wireless 
Broadband Services frequency band, 3650-3700 MHz, that purchase 
Dedicated Service.
    After receiving comments from interested parties and completing its 
review, OMB approved the collection subject to the following 
modifications on August 15, 2014:
     Where data sought for 2010 and/or 2012, only require the 
reporting of data for a single year, and use the most recent year 
(i.e., calendar year 2013).
     Revise definition of Purchasers to exclude entities from 
the collection that purchased less than $5 million in Dedicated 
Services in 2013 (in areas

[[Page 57813]]

where the ILEC is subject to price cap regulation).
     Do not require Purchasers to answer Questions II.E.4-8, 
II.E.14, II.F.3-7, and II.F.13 (which involve the reporting of 
Dedicated Service expenditures by various categories and identifying 
tariffs used to purchase service). Purchasers can provide information 
in response to such questions on a voluntary basis.
     Require the reporting of revenues and expenditures broken 
down by bandwidth as set forth in Questions II.A.16, II.B.9, II.E.7-8, 
and II.F.6-7, only if respondent keeps such information in the normal 
course of business. Otherwise, respondent can provide information on a 
voluntary basis.
     Only require the reporting of CLLI code for ILEC wire 
center in response to Question II.E.2.d if kept in the normal course of 
business. Otherwise, respondent can provide information on a voluntary 
basis.
     In Question II.A.11 directed at Competitive Providers, 
only require responses where the respondent was selected as the winning 
bidder on a Request for Proposal (RFP). Respondents can provide 
information on unsuccessful RFP bids and business rules relied upon to 
submit bids on a voluntary basis.
     In Questions II.A.4.c and II.B.3.c regarding the reporting 
of Locations with Connections, Providers are only required to provide 
the geocode for the Location if the respondent keeps such information 
in the normal course of business. Respondent can, however, provide such 
information on a voluntary basis.
     In Question II.A.5 directed at Competitive Providers 
regarding fiber maps and the reporting of Nodes used to interconnect 
with third party networks, do not require cable companies 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.

Discussion

    In this Order on Reconsideration, we amended the collection to 
reflect the changes in the conditional approval received from OMB. In 
so doing, we partially granted and partially denied the Coalition and 
Blooston petitions. Amending the collection is consistent with our 
delegated authority and will allow the Commission to move forward with 
the remainder of the collection for an analysis of the special access 
market. Specifically, we have revised the questionnaire and 
instructions by: (1) Replacing references to the collection of 2010 and 
2012 data with the collection of 2013 data; (2) revising the definition 
of Purchasers as directed by OMB; (3) indicating those questions where 
responses are optional and not required or where information is 
required only if kept in the normal course of business by the 
respondent; and (4) adding footnotes to clarify which information is 
required. These changes will reduce the overall estimated hour 
reporting burden of the collection on industry by more than forty 
percent.
    Collecting 2013 Data. OMB's conditional approval necessitated 
changing the years of the data collected from two years of data (mainly 
2010 and 2012) to a single year, and changing that to more recent 
(2013) data. This amendment allows the Commission to obtain data from 
the most recent calendar year as originally intended in the Data 
Collection Order. This action also addresses the Coalition's concerns 
over the reporting burden associated with the collection of 2010 data, 
and its request that the Commission just collect 2013 data. It also 
effectively grants the Coalition's request to ``narrow the scope of 
quantitative data to be provided by purchasers of special access.'' 
While ITTA opposed the Coalition Petition for seeking reduced reporting 
requirements for certain classes of respondents, this amendment applies 
equally to all types of respondents and does not benefit a particular 
group.
    Other Issues Raised by Petitions for Reconsideration. The changes 
required by OMB's conditional approval largely addressed the petitions 
filed by the Coalition and Blooston. For example, the Coalition sought 
a blanket exemption for Purchasers with (1) less than $5 million 
annually in special access facilities in price cap areas or (2) 200 or 
fewer special access facilities. Blooston similarly sought an exemption 
from the collection for Part 101 point-to-point, non-common carrier 
microwave licensees that ``are simply consumers of dedicated special 
access services.'' By revising the definition of Purchasers to exclude 
entities spending less than $5 million on Dedicated Services in 2013 in 
price cap areas, we significantly reduced the estimated pool of 
respondents that are Purchasers, and therefore, likely significantly 
reduced the number of entities represented by the Coalition and 
Blooston that are required to respond to the collection. Moreover, in 
addition to changing the year of the data collected to 2013, almost all 
but a handful of the questions for Purchasers are now optional, further 
limiting the amount of data obtained on a mandatory basis, and thus 
further decreasing the estimated reporting burden for Purchasers.
    To the extent petitioners and commenters sought additional 
exemptions or reductions in the reporting requirements, we denied their 
requests. The changes made pursuant to OMB's conditional approval 
provide ample relief by significantly decreasing the overall estimated 
reporting burden of the collection. Additional modifications would 
further limit the amount of data collected on purchases at the retail 
level. And there is evidence in the record that wholesale and retail 
customers face differing competitive options and that backhaul 
purchases by mobile wireless providers may represent a unique product 
market. The Commission therefore needs the remaining data sought on a 
mandatory basis from customers to analyze the retail, as well as the 
wholesale, market.
    Responses Due by December 15, 2014. The deadline for responding to 
the data collection is ninety days from the release of this order, 
i.e., December 15, 2014. The Commission first provided notice that a 
collection was forthcoming in its August 2012 Pricing Flexibility 
Suspension Order. The Commission then provided respondents with an 
``initial version'' of the questions in its Data Collection Order and 
clarifications and instructions were provided by the Bureau in 
September 2013. The eight month review process by OMB provided even 
more time for respondents to assess the collection requirements, 
identify the necessary information, and prepare for responding. 
Throughout this implementation process, the Commission staff has 
encouraged parties not to wait until the announcement of the filing 
deadline to start preparing for a response. We understand that any 
efforts to date by respondents to gather 2010 and/or 2012 data are 
supplanted by the change to using 2013 data, but collecting the most 
recent calendar year will likely make it easier for respondents to 
identify the necessary information over the next ninety days and 
eliminate the burdens associated with reporting data from earlier 
years. We therefore find a ninety-day window for filing responses is 
appropriate.

Procedural Matters

    Responding to the Data Collection. In addition to the attached 
instructions discussing the data specifications, we will post 
additional instructions on the submission process on the Commission's 
Web site. The Bureau will separately announce the launch of an

[[Page 57814]]

electronic interface for the submission of information. Submissions 
will involve the uploading of documents in response to various 
questions and interrogatories and the electronic delivery of data. We 
will provide a database container file for submitting data that will 
include validation scripts to verify that the filer is providing the 
data in the appropriate format.
    Confidential Information. The data collection seeks information on 
facilities, billing, revenue, and expenditures considered confidential 
by businesses. The Bureau will release separately a Protective Order 
outlining the procedures for designating and accessing information 
deemed confidential and highly confidential.
    Paperwork Reduction Act Analysis. This Order on Reconsideration 
further implements the information collection requirement adopted by 
the Commission in the Data Collection Order. OMB has approved the 
collection pursuant to the PRA, Public Law 104-13, and the actions 
taken here are consistent with, and reflect, OMB's approval. 
Accordingly, this Order on Reconsideration does not result in any new 
or substantive or material modification to a collection that would 
require additional OMB approval. Consistent with the Data Collection 
Order, the information collection requirement will become effective 
upon publication of a notice in the Federal Register announcing OMB's 
approval and an effective date of the requirements.
    Supplemental Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis. As required by 
the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, as amended, the Bureau has 
prepared a Supplemental Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 
(Supplemental FRFA) as set forth in Appendix B, addressing the actions 
taken in this Order on Reconsideration.
    Congressional Review Act (CRA). The Commission will send a copy of 
this Order on Reconsideration to Congress and the Government 
Accountability Office pursuant to the CRA and supplement that filing 
with a copy of this Order on Reconsideration.
    Ex Parte Presentations. This is a permit-but-disclose proceeding 
and subject to the requirements of section 1.1206(b) of the rules. 
Persons making oral ex parte presentations are reminded that memoranda 
summarizing the presentations must contain a summary of the substance 
of the presentation and not merely a listing of the subjects discussed. 
More than a one-sentence or two-sentence description of the views and 
arguments presented is generally required.

APPENDIX A

Mandatory Data Collection

September 2014

Approved by OMB 3060-1197

I. Definitions

    The following definitions apply for purposes of this collection 
only. They are not intended to set or modify precedent outside the 
context of this collection.
    Affiliated Company means a company, partnership, corporation, 
limited liability company, or other business entity that is affiliated 
with an entity that provides and/or purchases Dedicated Service. Two 
entities are affiliated if one of them, or an entity that controls one 
of them, directly or indirectly holds a greater than 10 percent 
ownership interest in, or controls, the other one.
    Best Efforts Business Broadband Internet Access Service means a 
best efforts Internet access data service with a minimum advertised 
bandwidth connection of at least 1.5 megabits per second (Mbps) in both 
directions (upstream/downstream) that is marketed to enterprise 
customers (including small, medium, and large businesses). For purposes 
of this data collection, Best Efforts Business Broadband Internet 
Access Services do not include mobile wireless services, as that term 
is used in the 16th Annual Mobile Wireless Competition Report.
    Circuit-Based Dedicated Service (CBDS) means a Dedicated Service 
that is circuit-based. Examples of CBDS include time-division 
multiplexing-based, DS1 and DS3 services.
    Competitive Provider means a competitive local exchange carrier 
(CLEC), 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.
    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; however, a Connection can be used to provide 
other services as well. For example, a dedicated communication path 
that is currently being used to provide a mass market broadband service 
but has the capability to provide a Dedicated Service is considered a 
Connection for the purpose of this data collection.
    Contract-Based Tariff means a Tariff, other than a Tariff Plan, 
that is based on a service contract entered into between a customer and 
an ILEC which has obtained permission to offer contract-based tariff 
services pursuant to 47 CFR Sec.  69.701 et seq. of the Commission's 
pricing flexibility rules or a comparable tariffed intrastate service 
contract between a customer and an ILEC.
    Dedicated Service transports data between two or more designated 
points, e.g., between an End User's premises and a point-of-presence, 
between the central office of a local exchange carrier (LEC) and a 
point-of-presence, or between two End User premises, at a rate of at 
least 1.5 Mbps in both directions (upstream/downstream) with prescribed 
performance requirements that include bandwidth-, latency-, or error-
rate guarantees or other parameters that define delivery under a Tariff 
or in a service-level agreement. Dedicated Service includes, but is not 
limited to, CBDS and PBDS. For the purpose of this data collection, 
Dedicated Service does not include ``best effort'' services, e.g., mass 
market broadband services such as DSL and cable modem broadband access.
    Disconnection means the process by which a Provider, per a customer 
request, terminates billing on one or more of a customer's Dedicated 
Service circuits.
    DS1 and DS3, except where specified, refer to DS1s and DS3s that 
are not UNEs. DS1s and DS3s are Dedicated Services.
    End User means a business, institutional, or government entity that 
purchases a communications service for its own purposes and does not 
resell such service. A mobile wireless service provider is considered 
an End User when it purchases communications services to make 
connections within its own network, e.g., backhaul to a cell site.
    End User Channel Termination means, as defined in 47 CFR Sec.  
69.703(a)(2), a dedicated channel connecting a LEC end office and a 
customer premises, offered for purposes of carrying special access 
traffic.
    Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier (ILEC) means, for the purpose of 
this data collection, a LEC that provides a

[[Page 57815]]

Dedicated Service in study areas where it is subject to price cap 
regulation under sections 61.41-61.49 of the Commission's rules, 47 CFR 
Sec. Sec.  61.41-61.49.
    Indefeasible Right of Use (IRU) means an indefeasible long-term 
leasehold interest for a minimum total duration of ten years that gives 
the grantee the right to access and exclusively use specified strands 
of fiber or allocated bandwidth to provide a service as determined by 
the grantee. An IRU confers on the grantee substantially all of the 
risks and rewards of ownership. IRUs typically include the following 
elements: (i) payment of a substantial fee up front to enter into the 
IRU contract; (ii) conveyance of tax obligations commensurate with the 
risks and rewards of ownership to the grantee (e.g. as opposed to the 
lesser tax burdens associated with other forms of leases); (iii) terms 
for payment to the grantor for ancillary services, such as maintenance 
fees; (iv) all additional rights and interests necessary to enable the 
IRU to be used by the grantee in the manner agreed to; and (v) no 
unreasonable limit on the right of the grantee to use the asset as it 
wishes (e.g., the grantee shall be permitted to splice into the IRU 
fiber, though such splice points must be mutually agreed upon by 
grantor and the grantee of the IRU).
    Location means a building, other man-made structure, a cell site on 
a building, a free-standing cell site, or a cell site on some other 
man-made structure where the End User is connected. A Node is not a 
Location. For the purposes of this data collection, cell sites are to 
be treated as Locations and not as Nodes.
    Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is a geographic area as defined 
by 47 CFR Sec. Sec.  22.909(a), 69.703(b).
    Node is an aggregation point, a branch point, or a point of 
interconnection on a Provider's network, including a point of 
interconnection to other Provider networks. Examples include LEC 
central offices, remote terminal locations, splice points (including, 
for example, at manholes), controlled environmental vaults, cable 
system headends, cable modem termination system (CMTS) locations, and 
facility hubs.
    Non-MSA is the portion of an ILEC's study area that falls outside 
the boundaries of an MSA.
    Non-Rate Benefit means a benefit to the customer other than a 
discount on the One Month Term Only Rate, e.g., a credit towards 
penalties or non-recurring charges or the ability to move circuits 
without incurring a penalty.
    One Month Term Only Rate means, for purposes of this data 
collection, the non-discounted monthly recurring tariffed rate for DS1, 
DS3 and/or PBDS services.
    Packet-Based Dedicated Service (PBDS) means a Dedicated Service 
that is packet-based. Examples of PBDS include Multi-Protocol Label 
Switched (MPLS) services; permanent virtual circuits, virtual private 
lines and similar services; ATM and Frame Relay service; (Gigabit) 
Ethernet Services and Metro Ethernet Virtual Connections; and Virtual 
Private Networks (VPN). PBDS includes those categories of packet-based 
and optical transmission services for which the Commission has granted 
forbearance relief from dominant carrier regulation.
    Phase I Pricing Flexibility means regulatory relief for the pricing 
of End User Channel Terminations pursuant to 47 CFR Sec. Sec.  
69.711(b), 69.727(a) of the Commission's rules.
    Phase II Pricing Flexibility means regulatory relief for the 
pricing of End User Channel Terminations pursuant to 47 CFR Sec. Sec.  
69.711(c), 69.727(b) of the Commission's rules.
    Prior Purchase-Based Commitment means a type of Volume Commitment 
where the commitment is based on either:
    (i) A certain percentage or number of the customer's purchased in-
service circuits or lines as measured at the time of making the Volume 
Commitment or measured during a period of time prior to making the 
Volume Commitment, e.g., based on the customer's billing records for 
the current month or prior month(s); or
    (ii) a certain percentage or dollar amount of Revenues generated by 
the customer's purchases as measured at the time of making the Volume 
Commitment or during a period of time prior to making the Volume 
Commitment.
    Providers collectively refers to both ILECs and Competitive 
Providers.
    Purchasers means Competitive Providers and End Users that are 
subject to the Commission's jurisdiction under the Communications Act 
of 1934, as amended, and that purchased Dedicated Services of $5 
million or more in 2013 in areas where the ILEC is subject to price cap 
regulation.
    Revenues means intrastate and interstate billed amounts without any 
allowance for uncollectibles, commissions or settlements.
    Tariff means an intrastate or interstate schedule of rates and 
regulations filed by common carriers. This term includes both Tariff 
Plans and Contract-Based Tariffs.
    Tariff Plan means a Tariff, other than a Contract-Based Tariff, 
that provides a customer with either a discount from any One Month Term 
Only Rate for the purchase of DS1 and/or DS3 services or a Non-Rate 
Benefit that could be applied to these services.
    Term Commitment means a commitment to purchase a Dedicated Service 
for a period of time, greater than a month, in exchange for a circuit-
specific discount and/or a Non-Rate Benefit.
    Transport Service means a dedicated circuit that connects a 
designated Competitive Provider's premises to the wire center that 
serves the Competitive Provider's customer. Such an arrangement may or 
may not include channel mileage. See 47 CFR 69.709(a).
    Transport Provider means a Provider that supplies Transport 
Service.
    Unbundled Copper Loop means a copper wire local loop provided by 
ILECs to requesting telecommunications carriers on a non-discriminatory 
basis pursuant to 47 CFR Sec.  51.319(a)(1) that can be used by a 
Competitive Provider to provide a Dedicated Service, e.g., Ethernet 
over Copper. An Unbundled Copper Loop is typically a 2- or 4-wire loop 
that the ILEC has conditioned to remove intervening equipment such as 
bridge taps, load coils, repeaters, low pass filters, range extenders, 
etc. between a Location and the serving wire center to allow for the 
provision of advanced digital services by a Competitive Provider. These 
loops are commonly referred to as dry copper, bare copper, or xDSL-
compatible loops. An Unbundled Copper Loop is a type of UNE.
    Unbundled Network Element (UNE) means a local loop provided by an 
ILEC to a requesting telecommunications carrier on a non-discriminatory 
basis pursuant to 47 CFR Sec.  51.319(a).
    Upgrade means that a customer transitions one or more circuits to a 
higher capacity circuit.
    Volume Commitment means a commitment to purchase a specified 
volume, e.g., a certain number of circuits or Revenues, to receive a 
discount on Dedicated Services and/or a Non-Rate Benefit.

II. Mandatory Data Collection Questions

    A. Competitive Providers must respond to the following:
    II.A.1. Indicate whether you are an Affiliated Company. If you are 
an Affiliated Company, you must identify the entities that provide and/
or purchase Dedicated Service with which you have an affiliation (name/
FRN).
    II.A.2. Do you (i) own a Connection; (ii) lease a Connection from 
another entity under an IRU agreement; or (iii)

[[Page 57816]]

obtain a Connection as a UNE from an ILEC to provide a Dedicated 
Service?

[ballot] Yes [ballot] No

    a. If yes, are any of these Connections to a Location within an 
area where the ILEC is subject to price cap regulation or within an 
area where the Commission has granted Phase I or Phase II Pricing 
Flexibility?
[ballot] Yes [ballot] No

    If you answered ``no'' to question II.A.2 or II.A.2.a, then you are 
not required to respond to the remaining questions in II.A or the 
questions in II.D.

Facilities Information

    II.A.3. Provide the total number of Locations to which you had a 
Connection during 2013 where your company: (i) owned the Connection; 
(ii) leased the Connection from another entity under an IRU agreement; 
or (iii) obtained the Connection as a UNE from an ILEC in the form of 
DS1s, DS3s, or Unbundled Copper Loops to provide a Dedicated Service.
    II.A.4. Provide the information requested below for each Location 
to which your company had a Connection during 2013 that you: (i) owned; 
(ii) leased from another entity under an IRU agreement; or (iii) 
obtained as a UNE from an ILEC to provide a Dedicated Service.
    a. A unique ID for the Location;
    b. The actual situs address for the Location (i.e., land where the 
building or cell site is located);
    c. The geocode for the Location (i.e., latitude and longitude) if 
kept in the normal course of business, otherwise providing this 
information is optional;
    d. The Location type (e.g., building, other man-made structure, 
cell site in or on a building, free-standing cell site, or a cell site 
on some other man-made structure like a water tower, billboard, etc.);
    e. Whether the Connection provided to the location uses facilities 
leased from another entity under an IRU or obtained as a DS1/DS3 UNE or 
Unbundled Copper Loop, and in each case, the name of the lessor of the 
majority of the fiber strands and/or copper loop;
    f. Whether any of the Connection to the Location was provided using 
fiber;
    g. The total sold bandwidth of the Connection provided by you to 
the Location in Mbps;
    h. The total bandwidth to the Location sold directly by you to an 
End User;
    i. The total sold fixed wireless bandwidth provided by you to the 
Location; and
    j. The total bandwidth sold by you to any cell sites at the 
Location.
    k. The total bandwidth provided to you or an Affiliated Company for 
internal use.
    II.A.5. Provide a map showing the fiber routes that you (a) own or 
(b) lease pursuant to an IRU agreement that constitute your network, 
including the fiber Connections to Locations. In addition, include the 
locations of all Nodes used to interconnect with third party networks, 
and the year that each Node went live.
    II.A.6. We will provide you with a selected list of the Locations 
you reported in response to question II.A.4. For each identified 
Location, state the month and year that you first provided a Connection 
to that Location, whether you originally supplied the Location over a 
UNE, and if so, when (if at all) you switched to using a Connection 
that you own or lease as an IRU. If the Location was first served by 
your Connection on or before January 2008, and the date the Location 
was first served is unknown, then enter 00/0000.
    II.A.7. For each ILEC wire center where your company is collocated, 
provide the actual situs address, the geocode, and the CLLI code.
    II.A.8. Explain your business rule(s) used to determine whether to 
build a Connection to a particular Location. Provide underlying 
assumptions.
    a. Describe the business rules and other factors that determine 
where you build your Connections. Examples of such rules/factors are 
minimum Term Commitments or minimum capacity commitments by the buyer; 
maximum build distances from the building to your core network; and/or 
number of competitors in the area. Include, also, any factors that 
would prevent you from building a Connection to an otherwise suitable 
Location. These could be factors that are under your control or those 
that are not.
    b. Explain how, if at all, business density is incorporated into 
your business rule, and if so, how you measure business density.
    c. In areas where your business rule has been most successful, 
explain why. Provide examples of geographic regions (if any) where you 
generally were or are able to successfully deploy Connections, and 
where you generally have experienced or currently experience serious 
difficulties in deploying Connections, and, if you are able to provide 
examples of both kind of regions, indicate what distinguishes these 
different regions.
    II.A.9. Provide the following information:
    a. The current situs address of your U.S. headquarters (i.e., the 
address of the land where the headquarters is located);
    b. The year that this site became your headquarters;
    c. Year established and situs address for any prior U.S. 
headquarters' location for your company, going as far back as 1995, if 
different from the headquarters' location listed in response to 
question II.A.9.a;
    d. Going as far back as 1995, the date of acquisition and the situs 
address for the U.S. headquarters location of any entity that owned, or 
leased under an IRU agreement, Connections to five or more Locations in 
any MSA at the time you acquired the entity in a merger where you or 
your subsidiary was the surviving entity.
    e. The name of any Affiliated Company that owned, or leased under 
an IRU agreement, Connections to five or more Locations in any MSA at 
the time you became affiliated with the Affiliated Company, going as 
far back as 1995.
    f. For each Affiliated Company listed in response to question 
II.A.9.e, provide:
    i. The year of affiliation;
    ii. The situs address for each Affiliated Company's U.S. 
headquarters at the time of affiliation;
    iii. The year that the Affiliated Company established the situs 
address listed in response to question II.A.9.f.i for its U.S. 
headquarters; and
    iv. The year established and situs address for any prior U.S. 
headquarters' location designated by the Affiliated Company, going as 
far back as 1995 or the year of affiliation, whichever is most recent, 
if different from the headquarters' location listed in response to 
question II.A.9.f.i.
    II.A.10. Provide data, maps, information, marketing materials, and/
or documents identifying those geographic areas where you, or an 
Affiliated Company, advertised or marketed Dedicated Service over 
existing facilities, via leased facilities, or by building out new 
facilities as of December 31, 2013, or planned to advertise or market 
such services within twenty-four months of those dates.
    II.A.11. Identify the five most recent Requests for Proposals 
(RFPs) for which you were selected as the winning bidder to provide 
each of the following: (a) Dedicated Services; (b) Best Efforts 
Business Broadband Internet Access Services; and, to the extent 
different from (a) or (b), (c) some other form of high-capacity data 
services to business customers. (The following remaining parts of this 
question are optional.) In addition, identify the five largest RFPs (by 
number of connections) for which you submitted an unsuccessful

[[Page 57817]]

competitive bid in 2013 for each of (a) Dedicated Services; (b) Best 
Efforts Business Broadband Internet Access Services; and, to the extent 
different from (a) or (b), (c) some other form of high-capacity data 
services to business customers. For each RFP identified, provide a 
description of the RFP, the area covered, the price offered, and other 
competitively relevant information. Lastly, identify the business rules 
you rely upon to determine whether to submit a bid in response to an 
RFP.

Billing Information

    II.A.12. For all Dedicated Services provided using transmission 
paths that you (i) own; (ii) lease from another entity under an IRU 
agreement; or (iii) obtain as a UNE from an ILEC to provide a Dedicated 
Service, submit the following information by circuit element by circuit 
billed for each month from January 1 to December 31 for the year 2013.
    a. The closing date of the monthly billing cycle in mm/dd/yyyy 
format;
    b. The name and six-digit 499-A Filer ID of the customer, where 
applicable, or other unique ID if customer does not have a 499-A Filer 
ID;
    c. The Location ID from question II.A.4.a that is used to link the 
circuit elements to the terminating Location of the circuit (where 
applicable);
    d. The circuit ID common to all elements purchased in common for a 
particular circuit;
    e. The type of circuit (PBDS, or DS1 or DS3, etc.) and its 
bandwidth;
    f. A unique billing code for the circuit element (see question 
II.A.14);
    g. The number of units billed for this circuit element (note that 
the bandwidth of the circuit must not be entered here);
    h. The dollar amount of non-recurring charges billed for the first 
unit of this circuit element;
    i. The dollar amount of non-recurring charges billed for additional 
units of this circuit element (if different from the amount billed for 
the initial unit);
    j. The monthly recurring dollar charge for the first unit of the 
circuit element billed;
    k. The monthly recurring dollar charge for additional units (if 
different from the amount billed for the initial unit);
    l. Per unit charge for the circuit element;
    m. The total monthly dollar amount billed for the circuit element;
    n. The Term Commitment associated with this circuit in months;
    o. Indicate whether this circuit element is associated with a 
circuit that contributes to a Volume Commitment; and
    p. The adjustment ID (or multiple adjustment IDs) linking this 
circuit element to the unique out-of-cycle billing adjustments in 
question II.A.13.a (below) if applicable.
    II.A.13. For each adjustment, rebate, or true-up for billed 
Dedicated Services, provide the information requested below.
    a. A unique ID number for the billing adjustment, rebate, or true-
up (see question II.A.12.p above) and a unique ID number for the Tariff 
or contract from which the adjustment originates;
    b. The beginning date of the time period covered by the adjustment 
or true-up;
    c. The ending date of the time period covered by the adjustment or 
true-up;
    d. The scope of the billing adjustment, i.e., whether the 
adjustment applies to a single circuit element on a single circuit, 
more than one circuit element on a single circuit, more than one 
circuit element across multiple circuits, or an overall adjustment that 
applies to every circuit element on every circuit purchased by the 
customer;
    e. The dollar amount of the adjustment or true-up; and
    f. A brief description of the billing adjustment, rebate or true-
up, e.g., term discount, revenue target rebate, etc.
    II.A.14. For each unique billing code, please provide the following 
information below.
    a. The billing code for the circuit element;
    b. Select the phrase that best describes the circuit element from 
the list. Names of some common rate elements are shown on the 
generalized circuit diagram below:
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TR26SE14.000

    i. Channel mileage facility, channel mileage, interoffice channel 
mileage, special transport (a transmission path between two serving 
wire centers associated with customer designated locations; a serving 
wire center and an international or service area boundary point; a 
serving wire center and a hub, or similar type of connection);
    ii. Channel mileage termination, special transport termination (the 
termination of channel mileage facility or similar transmission path);
    iii. Channel termination, local distribution channel, special 
access line, customer port connection (Ethernet) (a transmission path 
between a customer designated location and the associated wire center);
    iv. Clear channel capability (not shown) (an arrangement which 
allows a customer to transport, for example, 1.536 Mbps of information 
on a 1.544 Mbps line rate with no constraint on the quantity or 
sequence of one and zero bits);
    v. Cross-connection (not shown) (semi-permanent switching between 
facilities, sometimes combined with multiplexing/demultiplexing);
    vi. Multiplexing (not shown) (channelizing a facility into 
individual services requiring a lower capacity or bandwidth); and
    vii. Class of service and/or committed information rate (not shown) 
(for Ethernet, the performance characteristics of the network and 
bandwidth available for a customer port connection).
    c. If none of the possible entries describes the circuit element, 
enter a short description.

[[Page 57818]]

Revenues, Terms and Conditions Information

    II.A.15. What were your Revenues from the sale of CBDS in 2013? 
Report Revenues in total, separately by DS1, DS3, and other CBDS sales, 
and separately by customer category, i.e., sales to Providers and End 
Users.
    II.A.16. What were your Revenues from the sale of PBDS in 2013? 
Report Revenues in total, separately by customer category, i.e., sales 
to Providers and End Users. If kept in the normal course of business 
also report revenues separately by bandwidth for the following 
categories, otherwise providing this information is optional:
    a. Less than or equal to 1.5 Mbps;
    b. greater than 1.5, but less than or equal to 50 Mbps;
    c. greater than 50, but less than or equal to 100 Mbps;
    d. greater than 100, but less than or equal to 1 Gbps; and
    e. greater than 1 Gbps.
    II.A.17. What percentage of your Revenues from the sale of DS1, 
DS3, and PBDS services in 2013 were generated from an agreement or 
Tariff that contains a Prior Purchase-Based Commitment?
    II.A.18. If you offer Dedicated Services pursuant to an agreement 
or Tariff that contains either a Prior Purchase-Based Commitment or a 
Non-Rate Benefit, then explain how, if at all, those sales are 
distinguishable from similarly structured ILEC sales of DS1s, DS3s, 
and/or PBDS.
    II.A.19. Provide the business justification for the Term or Volume 
Commitments associated with any Tariff or agreement you offer or have 
in effect with a customer for the sale of Dedicated Services.
    B. ILECs must respond to the following:
    II.B.1. Indicate whether you are an Affiliated Company. If you are 
an Affiliated Company, you must identify the entities that provide and/
or purchase Dedicated Service with which you have an affiliation (name/
FRN).

Facilities Information

    II.B.2. Provide the total number of Locations to which you provided 
a Connection in your company's study areas during 2013 where your 
company: (i) owned the Connection; or (ii) leased the Connection from 
another entity under an IRU agreement.
    II.B.3. Provide the information requested below for each Location 
to which your company had a Connection during 2013 that you (i) owned 
or (ii) leased from another entity under an IRU agreement:
    a. A unique ID for the Location;
    b. The actual situs address for the Location (i.e., land where the 
building or cell site is located);
    c. The geocode for the Location (i.e., latitude and longitude) if 
kept in the normal course of business, otherwise providing this 
information is optional;
    d. The Location type (e.g., building, other man-made structure, 
cell site in or on a building, free-standing cell site, or a cell site 
on some other man-made structure like a water tower, billboard, etc.);
    e. Whether any of the Connection to the Location was provided using 
fiber;
    f. The total sold bandwidth of the Connection provided by you to 
the Location in Mbps;
    g. The total bandwidth to the Location sold by you as UNEs in the 
form of DS1s and/or DS3s;
    h. The total bandwidth to the Location sold directly by you to an 
End User;
    i. The total sold fixed wireless bandwidth provided by you to the 
Location; and
    j. The total bandwidth sold by you to any cell sites at the 
Location.

Billing Information

    II.B.4. For all Dedicated Services provided using transmission 
paths that you (i) own or (ii) lease from another entity under an IRU 
agreement, submit the following information by circuit element by 
circuit billed for each month from January 1 to December 31 for the 
year 2013.
    a. The closing date of the monthly billing cycle in mm/dd/yyyy 
format;
    b. The name and six-digit 499A Filer ID of the customer, where 
applicable, or other unique ID if customer does not have a 499A Filer 
ID;
    c. The Location ID from question II.B.3.a that is used to link the 
circuit elements to the terminating Location of the circuit (where 
applicable);
    d. The circuit ID common to all elements purchased in common for a 
particular circuit;
    e. The type of circuit, (DS1 sold as a UNE, DS3 sold as a UNE, 
PBDS, non-UNE DS1s or DS3s, etc.) and the bandwidth of the circuit;
    f. The serving wire center/mileage rating point Common Language 
Location Identification (CLLI) of one end of the circuit (MRP1);
    g. The serving wire center/mileage rating point CLLI of the other 
end of the circuit (MRP2);
    h. The latitude of MRP1;
    i. The longitude of MRP1;
    j. The latitude of MRP2;
    k. The longitude of MRP2;
    l. End of the circuit (1=MRP1 or 2=MRP2) associated with this 
circuit element;
    m. The billing code for the circuit element (see question II.B.6);
    n. The density pricing zone for the circuit element;
    o. The number of units billed for this circuit element (note that 
the bandwidth of the circuit must not be entered here);
    p. The dollar amount of non-recurring charges billed for the first 
unit of this circuit element;
    q. The dollar amount of non-recurring charges billed for additional 
units of this circuit element (if different from the amount billed for 
the initial unit);
    r. The monthly recurring dollar charge for the first unit of the 
circuit element billed;
    s. The monthly recurring dollar charge for additional units (if 
different from the amount billed for the initial unit);
    t. Per unit charge for the circuit element;
    u. The total monthly dollar amount billed for the circuit element;
    v. The Term Commitment associated with this circuit in months;
    w. Indicate whether this circuit element is associated with a 
circuit that contributes to a Volume Commitment;
    x. Indicate whether this circuit element was purchased pursuant to 
a Contract-Based Tariff; and
    y. The adjustment ID (or multiple adjustment IDs) linking this 
circuit element to the unique out-of-cycle billing adjustments in 
question II.B.5.a (below) if applicable.
    II.B.5. For each adjustment, rebate, or true-up for billed 
Dedicated Services, provide the information requested below.
    a. A unique ID for the billing adjustment or true-up (see question 
II.B.4.y above);
    b. A unique ID number for the contract or Tariff from which the 
adjustment originates;
    c. The beginning date of the time period covered by the adjustment 
or true-up;
    d. The ending date of the time period covered by the adjustment or 
true-up;
    e. The scope of the billing adjustment, i.e., whether the 
adjustment applies to a single circuit element on a single circuit, 
more than one circuit element on a single circuit, more than one 
circuit element across multiple circuits, or an overall adjustment that 
applies to every circuit element on every circuit purchased by the 
customer;
    f. The dollar amount of the adjustment or true-up;
    g. Whether the adjustment is associated with a Term Commitment,

[[Page 57819]]

and if so, the length of the term specified in the contract or Tariff 
necessary to achieve the rebate;
    h. Whether the adjustment is associated with a Volume Commitment, 
and if so, the number of circuits and/or dollar amount specified in the 
contract or Tariff necessary to achieve the rebate; and
    i. If the adjustment is for some other reason, a brief description 
of the reason for the adjustment.
    II.B.6. For each unique billing code, please provide the following 
information below.
    a. The billing code for the circuit element;
    b. The phrase that best describes the circuit element from the 
list. Names of some common rate elements are shown on the generalized 
circuit diagram below:
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TR26SE14.001

    i. Channel mileage facility, channel mileage, interoffice channel 
mileage, special transport (a transmission path between two serving 
wire centers associated with customer designated locations; a serving 
wire center and an international or service area boundary point; a 
serving wire center and a hub, or similar type of connection);
    ii. Channel mileage termination, special transport termination (the 
termination of channel mileage facility or similar transmission path);
    iii. Channel termination, local distribution channel, special 
access line, customer port connection (Ethernet) (a transmission path 
between a customer designated location and the associated wire center);
    iv. Clear channel capability (not shown) (an arrangement which 
allows a customer to transport, for example, 1.536 Mbps of information 
on a 1.544 Mbps line rate with no constraint on the quantity or 
sequence of one and zero bits);
    v. Cross-connection (not shown) (semi-permanent switching between 
facilities, sometimes combined with multiplexing/demultiplexing);
    vi. Multiplexing (not shown) (channelizing a facility into 
individual services requiring a lower capacity or bandwidth); and
    vii. Class of service and/or committed information rate (not shown) 
(for Ethernet, the performance characteristics of the network and 
bandwidth available for a customer port connection).
    c. If none of the possible entries describes the rate element, 
enter a short description.
    II.B.7. List the CLLI code for each one of your wire centers that 
was subject to price cap regulation as of December 31, 2013, i.e., 
those wire centers in your incumbent territory where the Commission had 
not granted you pricing flexibility. For those MSAs and Non-MSAs where 
the Commission granted you Phase I or Phase II Pricing Flexibility as 
of December 31, 2013, list the CLLI codes for the wire centers 
associated with each MSA and Non-MSA for 2013, the name of the relevant 
MSA and Non-MSA, and the level of pricing flexibility granted for the 
MSA and Non-MSA, i.e., Phase I and/or Phase II Pricing Flexibility.

Revenues, Terms and Conditions Information

    II.B.8. What were your Revenues from the sale of CBDS services in 
2013? Report Revenues in total, separately by DS1, DS3, and other CBDS 
sales, and separately by customer category, i.e., sales to Competitive 
Providers and End Users.
    II.B.9. What were your Revenues from the sale of PBDS services in 
2013? Report Revenues in total, separately by customer category, i.e., 
sales to Competitive Providers and End Users. If kept in the normal 
course of business also report separately by bandwidth for the 
following categories, otherwise providing this information is optional:
    a. less than or equal to 1.5 Mbps;
    b. greater than 1.5, but less than or equal to 50 Mbps;
    c. greater than 50, but less than or equal to 100 Mbps;
    d. greater than 100, but less than or equal to 1 gigabyte per 
second (Gbps); and
    e. greater than 1 Gbps.
    II.B.10. What were your Revenues from the One Month Term Only Rate 
charged for DS1, DS3, and/or PBDS services in 2013? Report Revenues in 
total, separately by DS1, DS3, and PBDS sales as applicable, and 
separately by customer category, i.e., sales to Competitive Providers 
and End Users.
    II.B.11. How many customers were purchasing DS1, DS3, and/or PBDS 
services pursuant to your One Month Term Only Rates as of December 31, 
2013? Report customer numbers in total, separately for DS1, DS3, and 
PBDS services as applicable, and separately by customer category, i.e., 
the number of DS1, DS3, and PBDS service customers that were 
Competitive Providers and End Users.
    II.B.12. Separately list all Tariff Plans and Contract-Based 
Tariffs that can be applied to the purchase of DS1, DS3 and/or PBDS 
services and provide the information requested below for each plan.
    a. This plan is a:

[ballot] Tariff Plan [ballot] Contract-Based Tariff (select one)

    b. Plan name:
    c. Tariff and Section Number(s):
    d. This plan contains:

[ballot] Term Commitment(s) [ballot] Volume Commitment(s)

[ballot] Non-Rate Benefit option(s) (select all that apply)

    e. If the plan contains options for Non-Rate Benefits, explain the 
available Non-Rate Benefits.
    f. This plan can be applied to the purchase of:

[ballot] DS1 services [ballot] DS3 services [ballot] PBDS [ballot] 
Other (select all that apply)

    g. In what geographic areas is this plan available, e.g., 
nationwide or certain MSAs?
    i. Is plan available in [ballot] MSAs, [ballot] Non-MSAs, or 
[ballot] both types of areas?

[[Page 57820]]

    ii. If plan is available in Non-MSAs, indicate the states where the 
Non-MSA areas are located?
    h. To receive a discount or Non-Rate Benefit under this plan, must 
the customer make a Prior Purchase-Based Commitment?

[ballot] Yes [ballot] No

    i. Do purchases of DS1 or DS3 services in areas outside of the 
study area(s) where you are subject to price cap regulation (e.g., 
purchases from an Affiliated Company that is a CLEC) count towards 
meeting any Volume Commitment to receive a discount or Non-Rate Benefit 
under this plan?

[ballot] Yes [ballot] No [ballot] N/A (no Volume Commitment)

    j. Do DS1 or DS3 purchases in areas where you are subject to price 
cap regulation and where pricing flexibility has not been granted count 
towards meeting any Volume Commitment to receive a discount or Non-Rate 
Benefit under this plan?

[ballot] Yes [ballot] No [ballot] N/A (no Volume Commitment)

    k. Do DS1 or DS3 purchases in areas where you have been granted 
Phase I Pricing Flexibility count towards meeting any Volume Commitment 
to receive a discount or Non-Rate Benefit under this plan?

[ballot] Yes [ballot] No [ballot] N/A (no Volume Commitment)

    l. Do DS1 or DS3 purchases in areas where you have been granted 
Phase II Pricing Flexibility count towards meeting any Volume 
Commitment to receive a discount or Non-Rate Benefit under this plan?

[ballot] Yes [ballot] No [ballot] N/A (no Volume Commitment)

    m. Do non-tariffed PBDS purchases by the customer count towards 
meeting any Volume Commitment to receive a discount or Non-Rate Benefit 
under this plan?

[ballot] Yes [ballot] No [ballot] N/A (no Volume Commitment)

    n. Do tariffed PBDS purchases by the customer count towards meeting 
any Volume Commitment to receive a discount or Non-Rate Benefit under 
this plan?

[ballot] Yes [ballot] No [ballot] N/A (no Volume Commitment)

    o. Do purchases by the customer for services other than DS1s, DS3s, 
and PBDS count towards meeting any Volume Commitment to receive a 
discount or Non-Rate Benefit under this plan?

[ballot] Yes [ballot] No [ballot] N/A (no Volume Commitment)

    p. Is the discount or Non-Rate Benefit available under this plan 
conditioned on the customer limiting its purchase of UNEs, e.g., 
customer must keep its purchase of UNEs below a certain percentage of 
the customer's total spend?
    [ballot] Yes [ballot] No

    q. What were your Revenues from the provision of Dedicated Service 
under this plan in 2013?
    r. What is the business justification for any Term or Volume 
Commitments associated with this plan?
    s. How many customers were subscribed to this plan as of December 
31, 2013? Report customer numbers in total, separately for DS1, DS3, 
and PBDS services as applicable, and separately by customer category, 
i.e., the number of DS1, DS3, and/or PBDS customers that were 
Competitive Providers and End Users.
    i. If there were five or fewer customers subscribed to this plan as 
of December 31, 2013, indicate the number of subscribers to this plan 
that were new customers (as opposed to an existing or prior customer) 
at the time they subscribed to this plan.
    ii. For those subscribers to this plan that were existing or prior 
customers at the time they committed to purchasing services under this 
plan, explain how the purchase commitment made under this plan compares 
to the customer's previous purchase commitment. For example, indicate 
what percentage of the previous purchase commitment, the new purchase 
commitment equals.
    t. Of those customers subscribed as of December 31, 2013, how many 
in 2013 failed to meet any Volume Commitment or Term Commitment 
required to retain a discount or Non-Rate Benefit they originally 
agreed to when entering into this plan?
    II.B.13. Indicate whether you have any non-tariffed agreement with 
an End User or Competitive Provider that, directly or indirectly, 
provides a discount or a Non-Rate Benefit on the purchase of tariffed 
DS1s, DS3s, and/or PBDS, restricts the ability of the End User or 
Competitive Provider to obtain UNEs, or negatively affects the ability 
of the End User or Competitive Provider to purchase Dedicated Services. 
If so, identify each agreement, including the parties to the 
agreements, the effective date, end date, and a summary of the relevant 
provisions.
    C. Certain Entities that provide Best Efforts Business Broadband 
Internet Access Services must respond to the following:
    II.C.1. If you provide Best Efforts Business Broadband Internet 
Access Services to 15,000 or more customers or 1,500 or more business 
broadband customers in areas where the ILEC is subject to price cap 
regulation, then answer the following questions:
    a. Did you submit data in connection with the State Broadband 
Initiative (SBI) Grant Program for 2013?

    [ballot] Yes [ballot] No

    If you answered ``no'' to questions II.C.1.a, then you do not need 
to answer any further questions in this section.
    b. Did the data you submitted in connection with the SBI Grant 
Program in 2013 accurately and completely identify the areas in which 
you offered Best Efforts Business Broadband Internet Access Services 
and exclude those areas where you did not offer such services as of 
December 31, 2013?

    [ballot] Yes [ballot] No

    i. If yes, then provide the list of prices for those Best Efforts 
Business Broadband Internet Access Services that you were marketing in 
each census block submitted in connection with the SBI Grant Program as 
of December 31, 2013. If there is a price variation within your service 
footprint, indicate which prices are associated with which census 
blocks.
    ii. If no, then provide a list of all the census blocks in which 
you offered Best Efforts Business Broadband Internet Access Services as 
of December 31, 2013, and a list of the prices for those Best Efforts 
Business Broadband Internet Access Services that you were marketing in 
each census block as of December 31, 2013. If there is a price 
variation within your service footprint, indicate which prices are 
associated with which census blocks.
    D. All Providers must respond to the following:
    II.D.1. Describe your company's short term and long-range 
promotional and advertising strategies and objectives for winning new--
or retaining current--customers for Dedicated Services. In your 
description, please describe the size (e.g., companies with 500 
employees or less, etc.), geographic scope (e.g., national, southeast, 
Chicago, etc.), and type of customers your company targets or plans to 
target through these strategies.
    II.D.2. Identify where your company's policies are recorded on the 
following Dedicated Service-related processes: (a) initiation of 
service; (b) service Upgrades; and (c) service Disconnections. For 
instance, identify where your company records recurring and non-
recurring charges associated with the processes listed above. If 
recorded in a Tariff, provide the specific Tariff section(s). If these 
policies are

[[Page 57821]]

recorded in documents other than Tariffs, list those documents and 
state whether they are publicly available. If they are publicly 
available, explain how to find them. For documents that are not 
publicly available, state whether they are conveyed to customers orally 
or in writing.
    E. Purchasers that are mobile wireless service providers must 
respond to the following:
    II.E.1. How many cell sites do you have on your network?
    II.E.2. Provide the information requested below for each cell site 
on your network as of December 31, 2013.
    a. A unique ID for the cell site;
    b. The actual situs address of the cell site (i.e., land where the 
cell site is located) if the cell site is located in or on a building;
    c. The geocode for the cell site (i.e., latitude and longitude);
    d. The CLLI code of the incumbent LEC wire center that serves the 
cell site, where applicable and if kept in the normal course of 
business;
    e. Whether the cell site is in or on a building, is a free-standing 
cell site, or is on some other type of man-made structure, e.g., a 
water tower, billboard, etc.;
    f. If the cell site is served by a CBDS, indicate the equivalent 
number of DS1s used;
    g. If the cell site is served by a PBDS, indicate the total 
bandwidth of the circuit or circuits in Mbps;
    h. If the cell site is served by a wireless Connection, indicate 
the total bandwidth of the circuit or circuits in Mbps;
    i. The name of the Provider(s) that supplies your Connection to the 
cell site; and
    j. If you self-provide a Connection to the cell site, the 
provisioned bandwidth of that self-provided Connection.

Expenditures Information

    II.E.3. What were your expenditures, i.e., dollar volume of 
purchases, on Dedicated Services for 2013? Report expenditures in 
total, separately for CBDS and PBDS purchases, and separately for 
purchases from ILECs and Competitive Providers.
    II.E.4. (Optional) Provide your company's expenditures, i.e., 
dollar volume of purchases, for DS1s, DS3s, and/or PBDS purchased from 
ILECs pursuant to a Tariff in 2013. For each of the following 
categories, report expenditures in total and separately for DS1s, DS3s 
and PBDS:
    a. All DS1s, DS3s, and PBDS;
    b. DS1s, DS3s, and PBDS purchased at One Month Term Only Rates;
    c. DS1s, DS3s, and PBDS purchased under Tariff Plans;
    d. DS1s, DS3s, and PBDS purchased under Contract-Based Tariffs;
    e. DS1s, DS3s, and PBDS purchased under Tariff Plans that contained 
a Term Commitment but not a Volume Commitment;
    f. DS1s, DS3s, and PBDS purchased under Tariff Plans that contained 
a Prior Purchase-Based Commitment;
    i. Of the total (and for the separate DS1, DS3, and PBDS totals 
where applicable), indicate the average discount from the One Month 
Term Only Rate incorporated in the expenditures.
    For purposes of calculating the percentages described above, an 
example would be a Tariff Plan that requires a purchase of 20 DS1s and 
10 DS3s and generates expenditures of $2,000 for calendar-year 2013. If 
those same circuits were purchased at One Month Term Only Rates of $100 
per DS1 and $200 per DS3, then total expenditures would instead be 
$4,000. Since the Tariff Plan under this scenario generated 50% of the 
expenditures that would be generated from One Month Term Only Rates, 
the discount would be 50%.
    g. DS1s, DS3s, and PBDS purchased under Contract-Based Tariffs that 
contained a Term Commitment but not a Volume Commitment; and
    h. DS1s, DS3s, and PBDS purchased under Contract-Based Tariffs that 
contained a Prior Purchase-Based Commitment;
    i. Of the total (and for the separate DS1 and DS3 totals if 
available), indicate the average discount from the One Month Term Only 
Rate incorporated in the expenditures.
    An example of how to calculate this percentage can be found at 
question II.E.4.f.i.
    i. What percentage of your expenditures in 2013 were subject to a 
Term Commitment of five or more years?
    II.E.5. (Optional) What were your expenditures, i.e., dollar volume 
of purchases, on DS1s, DS3s, and/or PBDS purchased from Competitive 
Providers pursuant to a Tariff in 2013? Report expenditures in total 
and separately for DS1s, DS3s and PBDS, as applicable, for the 
following categories:
    a. All DS1s, DS3s, and PBDS;
    b. DS1s, DS3s, and PBDS purchased at One Month Term Only Rates;
    c. DS1s, DS3s, and PBDS purchased under Tariffs that contained a 
Term Commitment but not a Volume Commitment;
    d. DS1s, DS3s, and PBDS purchased under Tariffs that contained a 
Prior Purchase-Based Commitment;
    i. Of the total (and for the separate DS1, DS3, and PBDS totals 
where applicable), indicate the average discount from the One Month 
Term Only Rate incorporated in the expenditures.
    An example of how to calculate this percentage can be found at 
question II.E.4.f.i
    e. What percentage of your expenditures in 2013 were subject to a 
Term Commitment of five or more years?
    II.E.6. (Optional) What were your expenditures, i.e., dollar volume 
of purchases, on DS1s, DS3s, and/or PBDS purchased from ILECs and 
Competitive Providers pursuant to an agreement (not a Tariff) in 2013? 
Report expenditures in total, separately for purchases from ILECs and 
Competitive Providers, and separately for DS1s, DS3s and PBDS, as 
applicable, for the following categories:
    a. All DS1s, DS3s, and PBDS;
    b. DS1s, DS3s, and PBDS purchased at a non-discounted rate;
    c. DS1s, DS3s, and PBDS purchased under a non-tariffed agreement 
that contained a Term Commitment but not a Volume Commitment;
    d. DS1s, DS3s, and PBDS purchased under a non-tariffed agreement 
that contained a Prior Purchase-Based Commitment;
    i. Of the total (and for the separate DS1, DS3, and PBDS totals 
where applicable), indicate the average discount from the non-
discounted rate incorporated in the expenditures.
    An example of how to calculate this percentage can be found at 
question II.E.4.f.i
    II.E.7. (Optional) What were your expenditures with ILECs and 
Competitive Providers, i.e., dollar volume of purchases, on PBDS 
purchased under a Tariff in 2013?
    a. Separately report purchases for the following service bandwidth 
categories if you keep such information in the normal course of 
business:
    i. less than or equal to 1.5 Mbps;
    ii. greater than 1.5, but less than or equal to 50 Mbps;
    iii. greater than 50, but less than or equal to 100 Mbps;
    iv. greater than 100, but less than or equal to 1 Gbps; or
    v. greater than 1 Gbps.
    II.E.8. (Optional) What were your expenditures with ILECs and 
Competitive Providers, i.e., dollar volume of purchases, on non-
tariffed PBDS in 2013?
    a. Separately report purchases for the following service bandwidth 
categories if you keep such information in the normal course of 
business:
    i. less than or equal to 1.5 Mbps;

[[Page 57822]]

    ii. greater than 1.5, but less than or equal to 50 Mbps;
    iii. greater than 50, but less than or equal to 100 Mbps;
    iv. greater than 100, but less than or equal to 1 Gbps; or
    v. greater than 1 Gbps.

Terms and Conditions Information

    II.E.9. (Optional) Explain whether the terms and conditions of any 
Tariff or contract to which you are a party for the purchase of 
Dedicated Services or the policies of any of your Providers constrain 
your ability to:
    a. Decrease your purchases from your current Provider(s);
    b. Purchase services from another Provider currently operating in 
the geographic areas in which you purchase services;
    c. Purchase non-tariffed services, such as Ethernet services, from 
your current Provider of tariffed DS1, DS3, and/or PBDS services or 
from other Providers operating in the geographic areas in which you 
purchase tariffed services;
    d. Contract with Providers that are considering entering the 
geographic areas in which you purchase tariffed services;
    e. Move circuits, for example, moving your DS1 and/or DS3 End-User 
Channel Terminations to connect to another Transport Provider; or
    f. Otherwise obtain Dedicated Services or change Providers.
    Relevant terms and conditions, among others, may include: (a) early 
termination penalties; (b) shortfall provisions; (c) overlapping/
supplemental discounts plans with different termination dates; (d) 
requirements to include all services, including new facilities, under a 
Tariff Plan or Contract-Based Tariff; or (e) requiring purchases in 
multiple geographic areas to obtain maximum discounts. In your answer, 
highlight contracts where you contend that a term or condition is a 
particularly onerous constraint by comparison with more typical 
provisions in other contracts. Also, at a minimum, list: (a) the 
Provider and indicate whether the Provider is an ILEC or a Competitive 
Provider; (b) a description of the term or condition; (c) the 
geographic area in which the services are provided; (d) the name of the 
vendor providing the service; and (e) where relevant, the specific 
Tariff number(s) and section(s), or if the policy at issue is recorded 
in documents other than Tariffs, list those documents and how you 
obtained them.
    If you allege that a term, condition, or Provider's policy 
negatively affects your ability to obtain Dedicated Services, state 
whether you have brought a complaint to the Commission, a state 
commission or court about this issue and the outcome. If you have not 
brought a complaint, explain why not.
    II.E.10. (Optional) If you purchase, or purchased, Transport 
Service and End User Channel Terminations from the same Provider, 
explain your experience with changing Transport Service from one 
Provider to another between January 1 and December 31, 2013 while 
keeping your End User Channel Terminations with the original Provider. 
Where appropriate, identify the Provider(s) in your responses below and 
indicate whether they are an ILEC or a Competitive Provider.
    a. How many times did you change Transport Service while keeping 
your End User Channel Terminations with the original Provider? An 
estimate of the number of circuits moved to a new Transport Provider, 
or the number of such changes requested, is sufficient.
    b. What was the length of time, on average, it took for the 
original Provider to complete the process of connecting your last-mile 
End-user Channel Terminations to another Transport Provider? An 
estimate is sufficient.
    c. Were you given the opportunity to negotiate the amount of time 
it would take to complete the process of connecting your End User 
Channel Terminations to another Transport Provider on a case-by-case 
basis? In answering this question, also describe and provide citations 
to the ILEC's or Competitive Provider's policies, rules or, where 
relevant, Tariff provisions, if known, explaining the transition 
process.
    d. How did connecting to a new Transport Provider impact the rate 
you paid for the End User Channel Terminations you continued to 
purchase from the original Provider?
    e. Did connecting to a new Transport Provider typically impact the 
rate you continued to pay for Transport Service from the original 
Provider while the change in Transport Providers remained pending? If 
so, how? What was the average percentage change in rates? For example, 
did you ever pay a One Month Term Only Rate during that time?
    II.E.11. (Optional) Describe any circumstances since January 1, 
2013, in which you have purchased circuits pursuant to a Tariff, solely 
for the purpose of meeting a Prior Purchase-Based Commitment required 
for a discount or Non-Rate Benefit from your Provider (i.e., you would 
not have purchased the circuit but for the requirement that you meet a 
Volume Commitment required for a discount or Non-Rate Benefit from your 
Provider). In your description, provide at least one example, which at 
a minimum, lists:
    a. The name of the Provider providing the circuits at issue;
    b. A description of the Prior Purchase-Based Commitment;
    c. The Tariff and section number(s) of the specific terms and 
conditions described;
    d. The number of circuits you would not have purchased but for the 
Prior Purchase-Based Commitment requirement to receive a discount or 
Non-Rate Benefit;
    i. Of the circuits reported in II.E.11.d, how many did you not use 
at all?
    e. A comparison of the dollar amount of the unnecessary circuit(s) 
purchased versus the dollar amount of penalties your company would have 
had to pay under the Prior Purchase-Based Commitment had it not 
purchased and/or maintained the circuit(s), and a description of how 
that comparison was calculated.
    f. How many circuits were activated under the identified Tariff 
plan and not used when you initially entered into the plan? What were 
these unused circuits as a percent of the total circuits currently 
purchased under this Tariff plan? Indicate the percent of the total 
circuits currently purchased under this Tariff plan that exceed your 
Prior Purchase-Based Commitment.
    g. For the Prior Purchase-Based Commitment, indicate whether you 
are able to buy any DS1s or DS3s from the Provider outside of the 
identified Tariff plan, or are you required to make all purchases from 
the Provider pursuant to the identified Tariff plan?
    II.E.12. For each year for the past five years, state the number of 
times and in what geographic area(s) you have switched from purchasing 
End-User Channel Terminations from one Provider of Dedicated Services 
to another.
    II.E.13. (Optional) Explain the circumstances since January 1, 2013 
under which you have paid One Month Term Only Rates for DS1, DS3, and/
or PBDS services and the impact, if any, it had on your business and 
your customers. In your response, indicate any general rules you 
follow, if any, concerning the maximum number of circuits and maximum 
amount of time you will pay One Month Term Only Rates, and your 
business rationale for any such rules.
    II.E.14. (Optional) Separately list all Tariffs under which your 
company purchases DS1s, DS3s, and/or PBDS and provide the information 
requested below for each plan.
    a. This plan is a:


[[Page 57823]]


[ballot] Tariff Plan [ballot] Contract-Based Tariff (select one)

    b. Plan name:
    c. Provider name:
    d. Tariff and Section Number(s):
    e. Tariff type:

[ballot] Interstate [ballot] Intrastate

    f. This plan contains:

[ballot] Term Commitment(s) [ballot] Volume Commitment(s)

[ballot] Non-Rate Benefit option(s) (select all that apply)

    g. If the plan contains Non-Rate Benefits, identify the Non-Rate 
Benefits that were relevant to your decision to purchase services under 
this plan.
    h. This plan can be applied to the purchase of:

[ballot] DS1 services [ballot] DS3 services [ballot] PBDS [ballot] 
Other (select all that apply)

    i. In what geographic areas do you purchase DS1s, DS3s, and/or PBDS 
under this plan, e.g., nationwide, certain states, or certain MSAs?
    j. To receive a discount or Non-Rate Benefit under this plan, does 
your company make a Prior Purchase-Based Commitment?
[square] Yes [square] No

    k. If this is an ILEC plan, do DS1, DS3, or tariffed PBDS purchases 
your company makes outside the study area(s) of the ILEC (e.g., 
purchases from an Affiliated Company of the ILEC that is providing out-
of-region service as a CLEC) count towards meeting any Volume 
Commitment to receive a discount or Non-Rate Benefit under this plan?

[square] Yes [square] No [square] N/A (no Volume Commitment, not an 
ILEC plan)

    i. If you answered yes, in what geographic areas outside the study 
area(s) of the ILEC, do you purchase these DS1s, DS3s and/or tariffed 
PBDS?
    ii. For each geographic area identified, state whether your company 
would have purchased from a different Provider, if at all, had it not 
been for the discounts or Non-Rate Benefits received under this plan? 
In your response, indicate whether the Provider that you would have 
purchased from has Connections serving that geographic area and the 
Provider's name.
    l. If this is an ILEC plan, do DS1, DS3, and/or tariffed PBDS 
purchases your company makes from the ILEC in price cap areas where the 
Commission has not granted the ILEC pricing flexibility count towards 
meeting any Volume Commitment to receive a discount or Non-Rate Benefit 
under this plan?

[square] Yes [square] No [square] N/A (no Volume Commitment, not an 
ILEC plan)

    i. If you answered yes, then identify the price cap areas where you 
purchase DS1s, DS3s, and/or tariffed PBDS that count towards meeting 
any Volume Commitment to receive a discount or Non-Rate Benefit under 
this plan?
    m. If this is an ILEC plan, do DS1, DS3 and/or tariffed PBDS 
purchases your company makes from the ILEC in areas where the 
Commission has granted Phase I Pricing Flexibility count towards 
meeting any Volume Commitment to receive a discount or Non-Rate Benefit 
under this plan?

[square] Yes [square] No [square] N/A (no Volume Commitment, not an 
ILEC plan)

    i. If you answered yes, in what geographic areas subject to pricing 
flexibility do you purchase DS1s, DS3s, and/or tariffed PBDS that count 
towards meeting any Volume Commitment to receive a discount or Non-Rate 
Benefit under this plan?
    ii. For each geographic area identified, state whether your company 
would have purchased from a different Provider, if at all, had it not 
been for the requirements of the Tariff Plan? In your response, 
indicate whether the Provider that you would have purchased from has 
Connections serving that geographic area and the Provider's name.
    n. If this is an ILEC plan, do DS1, DS3 and/or tariffed PBDS 
purchases your company makes from the ILEC in areas where the 
Commission has granted Phase II Pricing Flexibility count towards 
meeting any Volume Commitment to receive a discount or Non-Rate Benefit 
under this plan?

[square] Yes [square] No [square] N/A (no Volume Commitment, not an 
ILEC plan)

    i. If you answered yes, in what geographic areas subject to pricing 
flexibility do you purchase DS1s, DS3s, and/or tariffed PBDS that count 
towards meeting any Volume Commitment to receive a discount or Non-Rate 
Benefit under this plan?
    ii. For each geographic area identified, state whether your company 
would have purchased from a differentProvider, if at all, had it not 
been for the requirements of the Tariff Plan? In your response, 
indicate whether the Provider that you would have purchased from has 
Connections serving that geographic area and the Provider's name.
    o. If this is an ILEC plan, do non-tariffed PBDS purchases your 
company makes from this ILEC count towards meeting any Volume 
Commitment to receive a discount or Non-Rate Benefit under this plan?
[square] Yes [square] No [square] N/A (no Volume Commitment, not an 
ILEC plan)
    i. If you answered yes, in what geographic areas do you purchase 
non-tariffed PBDS that counts towards meeting any Volume Commitment to 
receive a discount or Non-Rate Benefit under this plan.
    ii. For each geographic area identified, state whether your company 
would have purchased non-tariffed PBDS from a different Provider, if at 
all, had it not been for the requirements of the plan? In your 
response, indicate whether the Provider that you would have purchased 
from has Connections serving that geographic area and the Provider's 
name.
    p. If this is an ILEC plan, do purchases you make for services 
other than DS1s, DS3s, and PBDS from this ILEC count towards meeting 
any Volume Commitment to receive a discount or Non-Rate Benefit under 
this plan?

[square] Yes [square] No [square] N/A (no Volume Commitment, not an 
ILEC plan)

    i. If you answered yes, identify the other services purchased and 
the geographic areas where you purchase these services that count 
towards meeting any Volume Commitment to receive a discount or Non-Rate 
Benefit under this plan.
    ii. For each geographic area identified, state whether your company 
would have purchased those other services from a different Provider, 
had it not been for the requirements of the plan? In your response, 
indicate whether the Provider that you would have purchased from has 
Connections serving that geographic area and the Provider's name.
    q. Is the discount or Non-Rate Benefit available under this plan 
conditioned on the customer limiting its purchase of UNEs, e.g., the 
customer must keep its purchase of UNEs below a certain percentage of 
the customer's total spend? If yes, then provide additional details 
about the condition.
    II.E.15. Indicate whether you have any non-tariffed agreement with 
an ILEC that, directly or indirectly, provides a discount or a Non-Rate 
Benefit on the purchase of tariffed DS1, DS3, and/or PBDS services, 
restricts your ability to obtain UNEs, or negatively affects your 
ability to purchase Dedicated Services. If so, identify each agreement, 
including the parties to the agreement, the effective date, end date, 
and a summary of the relevant provisions.

[[Page 57824]]

    F. Purchasers that are not mobile wireless service providers must 
respond to the following:
    II.F.1. What is the principal nature of your business, e.g., are 
you a CLEC, cable system operator, fixed wireless service provider, 
wireless Internet service provider, interconnected VoIP service 
provider, etc.?

Expenditures Information

    II.F.2. What were your expenditures, i.e., dollar volume of 
purchases, on Dedicated Services for 2013? Report expenditures in 
total, separately for CBDS and PBDS purchases, and separately for 
purchases from ILECs and Competitive Providers.
    II.F.3. (Optional) Provide your company's expenditures, i.e., 
dollar volume of purchases, for DS1s, DS3s, and/or PBDS purchased from 
ILECs pursuant to a Tariff in 2013. For each of the following 
categories, report expenditures in total and separately for DS1s, DS3s 
and PBDS:
    a. All DS1s, DS3s, and PBDS;
    b. DS1s, DS3s, and PBDS purchased at One Month Term Only Rates;
    c. DS1s, DS3s, and PBDS purchased under Tariff Plans;
    d. DS1s, DS3s, and PBDS purchased under Contract-Based Tariffs;
    e. DS1s, DS3s, and PBDS purchased under Tariff Plans that contained 
a Term Commitment but not a Volume Commitment;
    f. DS1s, DS3s, and PBDS purchased under Tariff Plans that contained 
a Prior Purchase-Based Commitment;
    i. Of the total (and for the separate DS1, DS3, and PBDS totals 
where applicable), indicate the average discount from the One Month 
Term Only Rate incorporated in the expenditures.
    For purposes of calculating the percentages described above, an 
example would be a Tariff Plan that requires a purchase of 20 DS1s and 
10 DS3s and generates expenditures of $2,000 for calendar-year 2013. If 
those same circuits were purchased at One Month Term Only Rates of $100 
per DS1 and $200 per DS3, then total expenditures would instead be 
$4,000. Since the Tariff Plan under this scenario generated 50% of the 
expenditures that would be generated from One Month Term Only Rates, 
the discount would be 50%.
    g. DS1s, DS3s, and PBDS purchased under Contract-Based Tariffs that 
contained a Term Commitment but not a Volume Commitment; and
    h. DS1s, DS3s, and PBDS purchased under Contract-Based Tariffs that 
contained a Prior Purchase-Based Commitment;
    i. Of the total (and for the separate DS1 and DS3 totals if 
available), indicate the average discount from the One Month Term Only 
Rate incorporated in the expenditures.
    An example of how to calculate this percentage can be found at 
question II.F.3.f.i.
    i. What percentage of your expenditures in 2013 were subject to a 
Term Commitment of five or more years?
    II.F.4. (Optional) What were your expenditures, i.e., dollar volume 
of purchases, on DS1s, DS3s, and/or PBDS purchased from Competitive 
Providers pursuant to a Tariff in 2013? Report expenditures in total 
and separately for DS1s, DS3s and PBDS, as applicable, for the 
following categories:
    a. All DS1s, DS3s, and PBDS;
    b. DS1s, DS3s, and PBDS purchased at One Month Term Only Rates;
    c. DS1s, DS3s, and PBDS purchased under Tariffs that contained a 
Term Commitment but not a Volume Commitment;
    d. DS1s, DS3s, and PBDS purchased under Tariffs that contained a 
Prior Purchase-Based Commitment;
    i. Of the total (and for the separate DS1, DS3, and PBDS totals 
where applicable), indicate the average discount from the One Month 
Term Only Rate incorporated in the expenditures.
    An example of how to calculate this percentage can be found at 
question II.F.3.f.i
    e. What percentage of your expenditures in 2013 were subject to a 
Term Commitment of five or more years?
    II.F.5. (Optional) What were your expenditures, i.e., dollar volume 
of purchases, on DS1s, DS3s, and/or PBDS purchased from ILECs and 
Competitive Providers pursuant to an agreement (not a Tariff) in 2013? 
Report expenditures in total, separately for purchases from ILECs and 
Competitive Providers, and separately for DS1s, DS3s and PBDS, as 
applicable, for the following categories:
    a. All DS1s, DS3s, and PBDS;
    b. DS1s, DS3s, and PBDS purchased at a non-discounted rate;
    c. DS1s, DS3s, and PBDS purchased under a non-tariffed agreement 
that contained a Term Commitment but not a Volume Commitment;
    d. DS1s, DS3s, and PBDS purchased under a non-tariffed agreement 
that contained a Prior Purchase-Based Commitment;
    i. Of the total (and for the separate DS1, DS3, and PBDS totals 
where applicable), indicate the average discount from the non-
discounted rate incorporated in the expenditures.
    An example of how to calculate this percentage can be found at 
question II.F.3.f.i
    II.F.6. (Optional) What were your expenditures with ILECs and 
Competitive Providers, i.e., dollar volume of purchases, on PBDS 
purchased under a Tariff in 2013?
    a. Separately report purchases for the following service bandwidth 
categories if you keep such information in the normal course of 
business:
    i. less than or equal to 1.5 Mbps;
    ii. greater than 1.5, but less than or equal to 50 Mbps;
    iii. greater than 50, but less than or equal to 100 Mbps;
    iv. greater than 100, but less than or equal to 1 Gbps; or
    v. greater than 1 Gbps.
    II.F.7. (Optional) What were your expenditures with ILECs and 
Competitive Providers, i.e., dollar volume of purchases, on non-
tariffed PBDS in 2013?
    a. Separately report purchases for the following service bandwidth 
categories if you keep such information in the normal course of 
business:
    i. less than or equal to 1.5 Mbps;
    ii. greater than 1.5, but less than or equal to 50 Mbps;
    iii. greater than 50, but less than or equal to 100 Mbps;
    iv. greater than 100, but less than or equal to 1 Gbps; or
    v. greater than 1 Gbps.

Terms and Conditions Information

    II.F.8. (Optional) Explain whether the terms and conditions of any 
Tariff or contract to which you are a party for the purchase of 
Dedicated Services or the policies of any of your Providers constrain 
your ability to:
    a. Decrease your purchases from your current Provider(s);
    b. Purchase services from another Provider currently operating in 
the geographic areas in which you purchase services;
    c. Purchase non-tariffed services, such as Ethernet services, from 
your current Provider of tariffed DS1, DS3, and/or PBDS services or 
from other Providers operating in the geographic areas in which you 
purchase tariffed services;
    d. Contract with Providers that are considering entering the 
geographic areas in which you purchase tariffed services;
    e. Move circuits, for example, moving your DS1 and/or DS3 End-User 
Channel Terminations to connect to another Transport Provider; or
    f. Otherwise obtain Dedicated Services or change Providers.
    Relevant terms and conditions, among others, may include: (a) early

[[Page 57825]]

termination penalties; (b) shortfall provisions; (c) overlapping/
supplemental discounts plans with different termination dates; (d) 
requirements to include all services, including new facilities, under a 
Tariff Plan or Contract-Based Tariff; or (e) requiring purchases in 
multiple geographic areas to obtain maximum discounts.
    In your answer, highlight contracts where you contend that a term 
or condition is a particularly onerous constraint by comparison with 
more typical provisions in other contracts. Also, at a minimum, list: 
(a) the Provider and indicate whether the Provider is an ILEC or a 
Competitive Provider; (b) a description of the term or condition; (c) 
the geographic area in which the services are provided; (d) the name of 
the vendor providing the service; and (e) where relevant, the specific 
Tariff number(s) and section(s), or if the policy at issue is recorded 
in documents other than Tariffs, list those documents and how you 
obtained them.
    If you allege that a term, condition, or Provider's policy 
negatively affects your ability to obtain Dedicated Services, state 
whether you have brought a complaint to the Commission, a state 
commission or court about this issue and the outcome. If you have not 
brought a complaint, explain why not.
    II.F.9. (Optional) If you purchase, or purchased, Transport Service 
and End User Channel Terminations from the same Provider, explain your 
experience with changing Transport Service from one Provider to another 
between January 1 and December 31, 2013 while keeping your End User 
Channel Terminations with the original Provider. Where appropriate, 
identify the Provider(s) in your responses below and indicate whether 
they are an ILEC or a Competitive Provider.
    a. How many times did you change Transport Service while keeping 
your End User Channel Terminations with the original Provider? An 
estimate of the number of circuits moved to a new Transport Provider, 
or the number of such changes requested, is sufficient.
    b. What was the length of time, on average, it took for the 
original Provider to complete the process of connecting your last-mile 
End-user Channel Terminations to another Transport Provider? An 
estimate is sufficient.
    c. Were you given the opportunity to negotiate the amount of time 
it would take to complete the process of connecting your End User 
Channel Terminations to another Transport Provider on a case-by-case 
basis? In answering this question, also describe and provide citations 
to the ILEC's or Competitive Provider's policies, rules or, where 
relevant, Tariff provisions, if known, explaining the transition 
process.
    d. How did connecting to a new Transport Provider impact the rate 
you paid for the End User Channel Terminations you continued to 
purchase from the original Provider?
    e. Did connecting to a new Transport Provider typically impact the 
rate you continued to pay for Transport Service from the original 
Provider while the change in Transport Providers remained pending? If 
so, how? What was the average percentage change in rates? For example, 
did you ever pay a One Month Term Only Rate during that time?
    II.F.10. (Optional) Describe any circumstances since January 1, 
2013, in which you have purchased circuits pursuant to a Tariff, solely 
for the purpose of meeting a Prior Purchase-Based Commitment required 
for a discount or Non-Rate Benefit from your Provider (i.e., you would 
not have purchased the circuit but for the requirement that you meet a 
Volume Commitment required for a discount or Non-Rate Benefit from your 
Provider). In your description, provide at least one example, which at 
a minimum, lists:
    a. The name of the Provider providing the circuits at issue;
    b. A description of the Prior Purchase-Based Commitment;
    c. The Tariff and section number(s) of the specific terms and 
conditions described;
    d. The number of circuits you would not have purchased but for the 
Prior Purchase-Based Commitment requirement to receive a discount or 
Non-Rate Benefit;
    i. Of the circuits reported in II.F.10.d, how many did you not use 
at all?
    e. A comparison of the dollar amount of the unnecessary circuit(s) 
purchased versus the dollar amount of penalties your company would have 
had to pay under the Prior Purchase-Based Commitment had it not 
purchased and/or maintained the circuit(s), and a description of how 
that comparison was calculated.
    f. How many circuits were activated under the identified Tariff 
plan and not used when you initially entered into the plan? What were 
these unused circuits as a percent of the total circuits currently 
purchased under this Tariff plan? Indicate the percent of the total 
circuits currently purchased under this Tariff plan that exceed your 
Prior Purchase-Based Commitment.
    g. For the Prior Purchase-Based Commitment, indicate whether you 
are able to buy any DS1s or DS3s from the Provider outside of the 
identified Tariff plan, or are you required to make all purchases from 
the Provider pursuant to the identified Tariff plan?
    II.F.11. For each year for the past five years, state the number of 
times and in what geographic area(s) you have switched from purchasing 
End-User Channel Terminations from one Provider of Dedicated Services 
to another.
    II.F.12. (Optional) Explain the circumstances since January 1, 2013 
under which you have paid One Month Term Only Rates for DS1, DS3, and/
or PBDS services and the impact, if any, it had on your business and 
your customers. In your response, indicate any general rules you 
follow, if any, concerning the maximum number of circuits and maximum 
amount of time you will pay One Month Term Only Rates, and your 
business rationale for any such rules.
    II.F.13. (Optional) Separately list all Tariffs under which your 
company purchases DS1s, DS3s, and/or PBDS and provide the information 
requested below for each plan.
    a. This plan is a:

[square] Tariff Plan [square] Contract-Based Tariff (select one)

    b. Plan name:
    c. Provider name:
    d. Tariff and Section Number(s):
    e. Tariff type:

[square] Interstate [square] Intrastate

    f. This plan contains:

[square] Term Commitment(s) [square] Volume Commitment(s)

[square] Non-Rate Benefit option(s) (select all that apply)

    g. If the plan contains Non-Rate Benefits, identify the Non-Rate 
Benefits that were relevant to your decision to purchase services under 
this plan.
    h. This plan can be applied to the purchase of:

[square] DS1 services [square] DS3 services [square] PBDS [square] 
Other (select all that apply)

    i. In what geographic areas do you purchase DS1s, DS3s, and/or PBDS 
under this plan, e.g., nationwide, certain states, or certain MSAs?
    j. To receive a discount or Non-Rate Benefit under this plan, does 
your company make a Prior Purchase-Based Commitment?

[ballot] Yes [ballot] No

    k. If this is an ILEC plan, do DS1, DS3 or tariffed PBDS purchases 
your company makes outside the study area(s) of the ILEC (e.g., 
purchases from an Affiliated Company of the ILEC that is providing out-
of-region service as a CLEC) count towards meeting any

[[Page 57826]]

Volume Commitment to receive a discount or Non-Rate Benefit under this 
plan?

[ballot] Yes [ballot] No [ballot] N/A (no Volume Commitment, not an 
ILEC plan)

    i. If you answered yes, in what geographic areas outside the study 
area(s) of the ILEC, do you purchase these DS1s, DS3s, and/or tariffed 
PBDS?
    ii. For each geographic area identified, state whether your company 
would have purchased from a different Provider, if at all, had it not 
been for the discounts or Non-Rate Benefits received under this plan? 
In your response, indicate whether the Provider that you would have 
purchased from has Connections serving that geographic area and the 
Provider's name.
    l. If this is an ILEC plan, do DS1, DS3, and/or tariffed PBDS 
purchases your company makes from the ILEC in price cap areas where the 
Commission has not granted the ILEC pricing flexibility count towards 
meeting any Volume Commitment to receive a discount or Non-Rate Benefit 
under this plan?

[ballot] Yes [ballot] No [ballot] N/A (no Volume Commitment, not an 
ILEC plan)

    i. If you answered yes, then identify the price cap areas where you 
purchase DS1s, DS3s, and/or tariffed PBDS that count towards meeting 
any Volume Commitment to receive a discount or Non-Rate Benefit under 
this plan?
    m. If this is an ILEC plan, do DS1, DS3, and/or tariffed PBDS 
purchases your company makes from the ILEC in areas where the 
Commission has granted Phase I Pricing Flexibility count towards 
meeting any Volume Commitment to receive a discount or Non-Rate Benefit 
under this plan?

[ballot] Yes [ballot] No [ballot] N/A (no Volume Commitment, not an 
ILEC plan)

    i. If you answered yes, in what geographic areas subject to pricing 
flexibility do you purchase DS1s, DS3s, and/or tariffed PBDS that count 
towards meeting any Volume Commitment to receive a discount or Non-Rate 
Benefit under this plan?
    ii. For each geographic area identified, state whether your company 
would have purchased from a different Provider, if at all, had it not 
been for the requirements of the Tariff Plan? In your response, 
indicate whether the Provider that you would have purchased from has 
Connections serving that geographic area and the Provider's name.
    n. If this is an ILEC plan, do DS1, DS3, and/or tariffed PBDS 
purchases your company makes from the ILEC in areas where the 
Commission has granted Phase II Pricing Flexibility count towards 
meeting any Volume Commitment to receive a discount or Non-Rate Benefit 
under this plan?

[ballot] Yes [ballot] No [ballot] N/A (no Volume Commitment, not an 
ILEC plan)

    i. If you answered yes, in what geographic areas subject to pricing 
flexibility do you purchase DS1s, DS3s, and/or tariffed PBDS that count 
towards meeting any Volume Commitment to receive a discount or Non-Rate 
Benefit under this plan?
    ii. For each geographic area identified, state whether your company 
would have purchased from a different Provider, if at all, had it not 
been for the requirements of the Tariff Plan? In your response, 
indicate whether the Provider that you would have purchased from has 
Connections serving that geographic area and the Provider's name.
    o. If this is an ILEC plan, do non-tariffed PBDS purchases your 
company makes from this ILEC count towards meeting any Volume 
Commitment to receive a discount or Non-Rate Benefit under this plan?

[ballot] Yes [ballot] No [ballot] N/A (no Volume Commitment, not an 
ILEC plan)

    i. If you answered yes, in what geographic areas do you purchase 
non-tariffed PBDS that counts towards meeting any Volume Commitment to 
receive a discount or Non-Rate Benefit under this plan.
    ii. For each geographic area identified, state whether your company 
would have purchased non-tariffed PBDS from a different Provider, if at 
all, had it not been for the requirements of the plan? In your 
response, indicate whether the Provider that you would have purchased 
from has Connections serving that geographic area and the Provider's 
name.
    p. If this is an ILEC plan, do purchases you make for services 
other than DS1s, DS3s, and PBDS from this ILEC count towards meeting 
any Volume Commitment to receive a discount or Non-Rate Benefit under 
this plan?

[ballot] Yes [ballot] No [ballot] N/A (no Volume Commitment, not an 
ILEC plan)

    i. If you answered yes, identify the other services purchased and 
the geographic areas where you purchase these services that count 
towards meeting any Volume Commitment to receive a discount or Non-Rate 
Benefit under this plan.
    ii. For each geographic area identified, state whether your company 
would have purchased those other services from a different Provider, 
had it not been for the requirements of the plan? In your response, 
indicate whether the Provider that you would have purchased from has 
Connections serving that geographic area and the Provider's name.
    q. Is the discount or Non-Rate Benefit available under this plan 
conditioned on the customer limiting its purchase of UNEs, e.g., the 
customer must keep its purchase of UNEs below a certain percentage of 
the customer's total spend? If yes, then provide additional details 
about the condition.
    II.F.14. Indicate whether you have any non-tariffed agreement with 
an ILEC that, directly or indirectly, provides a discount or a Non-Rate 
Benefit on the purchase of tariffed DS1, DS3, and/or PBDS services, 
restricts your ability to obtain UNEs, or negatively affects your 
ability to purchase Dedicated Services. If so, identify each agreement, 
including the parties to the agreement, the effective date, end date, 
and a summary of the relevant provisions.
    G. Non-Providers, Non-Purchasers, and other entities not covered by 
the scope of this inquiry but that were instructed to respond to this 
data collection must respond to the following:
    II.G.1. If you must respond to this data collection because you 
were required to file the FCC Form 477 to report the provision of 
``broadband connections to end user locations'' for Year 2013 but are 
not (a) a Provider or a Purchaser as defined in this data collection or 
(b) an entity that provides Best Efforts Business Broadband Internet 
Access Services to15,000 or more customers or 1,500 or more business 
broadband customers in areas where the ILEC is subject to price cap 
regulation, then indicate as such below and complete the certification 
accompanying this data collection.

[ballot] I am not a Provider.

[ballot] I am not a Purchaser.

[ballot] I do not provide Best Efforts Business Broadband Internet 
Access Services to 15,000 or more customers or 1,500 or more business 
broadband customers in areas where the ILEC is subject to price cap 
regulation.

    (select all that apply)

CERTIFICATION

    I have examined the response and certify that, to the best of my 
knowledge, all statements of fact, data, and information contained 
therein are true and correct.

Signature:-------------------------------------------------------------

Printed Name:----------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 57827]]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Title:-----------------------------------------------------------------

Date:------------------------------------------------------------------


    Respondents are reminded that failure to comply with these data 
reporting requirements may subject them to monetary forfeitures of up 
to $160,000 for each violation or each day of a continuing violation, 
up to a maximum of $1,575,000 for any single act or failure to act that 
is a continuing violation. False statements or misrepresentations to 
the Commission may be punishable by fine or imprisonment under Title 18 
of the U.S. Code.

APPENDIX B

SUPPLEMENTAL FINAL REGULATORY FLEXIBILITY ANALYSIS

    As required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (RFA), as 
amended, Initial Regulatory Flexibility analyses were incorporated in 
the Special Access NPRM for this proceeding, and the Commission 
included a Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (FRFA) with the Data 
Collection Order adopting the data collection requirement. This 
Supplemental Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis supplements the FRFA 
to reflect the actions taken in this Order on Reconsideration.

A. Need for, and Objectives of, the Order

    In 2005, the Commission initiated this proceeding as a broad 
examination of what regulatory framework to apply to price cap local 
exchange carriers' (LECs) interstate special access services following 
the expiration of the CALLS plan, including whether to maintain or 
modify the Commission's pricing flexibility rules. Moreover, the 
Special Access NPRM sought to examine whether the available marketplace 
data supported maintaining, modifying, or repealing these rules. In the 
Data Collection Order, the Commission continued the process of 
reviewing its special access rules to ensure that they reflect the 
state of competition today and promote competition, investment, and 
access to dedicated communications services that businesses across the 
country rely on every day to deliver their products and services to 
American consumers. Specifically, the Commission initiated a 
comprehensive data collection and sought comment on a proposal to use 
the data to evaluate competition in the market for special access 
services.
    In this Order on Reconsideration, we further amend the data 
collection adopted by the Commission in the Data Collection Order. The 
collection requires providers and purchasers of special access service 
and certain other services--including best efforts business broadband 
Internet access services--as well as entities that provide certain 
other services, to submit data, information and documents to allow the 
Commission to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of competition in the 
special access market. The data, information, and documents required 
fall into five general categories: market structure; pricing; demand 
(i.e., observed sales and purchases), terms and conditions; and 
competition and pricing decisions. In this Order on Reconsideration, we 
amend the collection to collect data from a single year (calendar year 
2013) instead of from two years (calendar years 2010 and 2012). This 
will result in a significant reduction in the amount of data reported 
by respondents. In addition, we amended the definition of purchaser to 
exclude entities spending less than $5 million on special access 
services in 2013 from the scope of the collection.

B. Summary of Significant Issues Raised by Public Comments in Response 
to the IRFA

    No new comments were received in response to the IRFA that were not 
already addressed in the FRFA included with the Data Collection Order. 
In response to the petitions requesting reconsideration of the Data 
Collection Implementation Order, MTPCS, LLC d/b/a Cellular One (MTPCS) 
filed comments stating that the Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) 
failed to ``effectively minimize'' the reporting burden associated with 
the data collection on small entities as required by the RFA. According 
to MTPCS, the Commission has greatly underestimated the response time 
needed for answering several of the questions directed at purchasers.

C. Description and Estimate of the Number of Small Entities to Which 
the Proposed Rules Will Apply

    The actions taken in the Order on Reconsideration do not require 
any changes to this section of the FRFA included with the Data 
Collection Order.

D. Description of Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Other 
Compliance Requirements

    The data, information and document collection required by the Data 
Collection Order, which is further amended by this Order on 
Reconsideration, falls into five general categories: market structure, 
pricing, demand (i.e., observed sales and purchases), terms and 
conditions, and competition and pricing decisions.
    Market structure data consists of, among other things, the situs 
and type of facilities owned by a provider (or leased subject to an 
indefeasible right of use) capable of providing special access, by sold 
and potential capacity and ownership, and the proximity of such 
facilities to sources of demand. We also require incumbent LEC 
providers to submit data concerning the number, nature, and situs of 
UNEs sold. In addition, we also require additional market structure 
data from competitive providers, such as detailed information related 
to non-price factors that may impact where special access providers 
build facilities or expand their network via UNEs and the history of 
their facility deployments in a sample of locations they serve.
    Pricing data includes the quantities sold and prices charged for 
special access services, by circuit element, and information regarding 
the regulatory environment for incumbent LECs.
    Demand data includes, among other things, data that identify the 
bandwidth of the special access services sold or purchased, the 
locations being served, and other material facts, such as where those 
purchases occur (e.g., buildings, cell towers) and the nature of the 
purchaser (e.g., provider or end user).
    Terms and conditions data and information include, but are not 
limited to, information regarding contracts or generally available 
plans for special access services that offer discounts, circuit 
portability, or other competitively relevant benefits, and whether the 
terms and conditions associated with those offerings may inhibit a 
buyer's ability to switch to other providers, which in turn may inhibit 
facilities-based entry into special access markets.
    Competition and pricing data, information and documents include, 
but are not limited to, those materials related to requests for 
proposals, advertising and marketing materials, and in very limited 
circumstances, pricing decision documents.
    Best efforts business broadband Internet access services include, 
but are not limited to, data showing where a provider or entity 
provides such services, as well as price lists.
    Questions related to terms and conditions, competition and pricing 
decisions will span a variety of timeframes specific to the issue 
addressed. The majority of the market structure, pricing and demand 
data will be collected for a two-year period. This

[[Page 57828]]

period of time allows the analysis to control for factors that may vary 
substantially across geographic areas, but not within a given 
geographic area.
    The actions taken in this Order on Reconsideration do not alter the 
general categories of information collected. The Bureau did amend the 
collection, however, to change the temporal scope of collection. 
Instead of asking questions for 2010 and 2012, the Commission will seek 
responses for a single year, 2013.

E. Steps Taken to Minimize Significant Economic Impact on Small 
Entities, and Significant Alternatives Considered

    As discussed in the FRFA, small business concerns were considered 
when determining the nature of the data to be collected, and identified 
data, information, and document requirements were modified to reduce 
burdens on small businesses where possible. The Bureau previously 
issued two voluntary data requests in this proceeding. These voluntary 
requests allowed each potential respondent to make its own 
determination concerning participation. The responses to the voluntary 
data requests provided the Commission the means and opportunity to 
assess which data elements are most important to its ability to assess 
the special access market, and to eliminate or revise those questions 
that otherwise yield less valuable information. The voluntary data 
requests also allowed the Commission to carefully assess the need to 
obtain data from all providers and purchasers of special access 
services and certain other services--including small businesses--to 
conduct a comprehensive analysis of the special access market.
    In order to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the special access 
market, the Commission will collect data from all providers and 
purchasers of special access services as well as some entities that 
provide best efforts business broadband Internet access services. The 
Commission notes concerns regarding the burden that this data 
collection will impose on small companies, and is mindful of the 
importance of seeking to reduce information collection burdens for 
small business concerns, and in particular those ``with fewer than 25 
employees.'' Competition in the provision of special access, however, 
appears to occur at a very granular level--perhaps as low as the 
building/tower. Accordingly, the Commission finds it necessary to 
obtain data from special access providers and purchasers of all sizes.
    The Bureau has further evaluated and modified the collection, 
however, to alleviate the impact of the collection on small entities. 
On September 18, 2013, the Bureau released an order clarifying the 
scope of the collection; providing instructions on how to respond to 
the data collection questions; and providing a list of all 
modifications and amendments to the data collection questions and 
definitions. These actions were based on feedback received from 
potential respondents, including the PRA comments filed with the 
Commission during the 60-day public comment period, and the Bureau's 
further internal review. These actions included a clarification on 
purchasers covered by the scope of the collection to exclude several 
categories of Commission license, authorization and registration 
holders.
    In addition, in this Order on Reconsideration, the Bureau further 
amended the collection to reflect the conditional approval received 
from the Office of Management and Budget pursuant to the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995. The amendments include revising the definition 
of purchasers to exclude those entities spending less than $5 million 
on special access services in 2013 in price cap areas and making many 
of the questions directed at purchasers optional. These amendments will 
significantly reduce the number of small entities covered by the scope 
of the collection and the reporting burden on those remaining small 
entities that still must respond, and thus addresses the concerns 
raised by MTPCS.
    Finally, the Commission considered additional alternatives to 
alleviate burden, e.g., collecting data from a sample of geographic 
areas. The Commission ultimately decided, however, that these 
alternatives were either impracticable or would undermine the 
Commission's efforts to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the special 
access market.

F. Report to Congress

    The Commission will send a copy of this Order on Reconsideration, 
including this Supplemental FRFA, in a report to be sent to Congress 
and the Government Accountability Office pursuant to the Small Business 
Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996. In addition, the 
Commission will send a copy of this Order on Reconsideration, including 
the Supplemental FRFA, to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small 
Business Administration. A copy of this Order on Reconsideration and 
Supplemental FRFA (or summaries thereof) will also be published in the 
Federal Register.

ORDERING CLAUSES

    Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED pursuant to sections 1, 4(i), 4(j), 5, 
201-205, 211, 215, 218, 219, 303(r), 332, 403, and 503 of the 
Communications Act of 1934, as amended (the Act), 47 U.S.C. 151, 
154(i), 154(j), 155, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 211, 215, 218, 219, 
303(r), 332, 403, 503, and section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 
1996, 47 U.S.C. 1302, sections 0.91, 0.291, and 1.429 of the 
Commission's rules, 47 CFR 0.91, 0.291, 1.429 and the authority 
delegated to the Bureau in the Data Collection Order, that this Order 
on Reconsideration is ADOPTED effective 30 days after publication of 
the text or summary thereof in the Federal Register.
    IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the deadline for responding to the data 
collection is December 15, 2014.
    IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, pursuant to the authority contained in 
section 405 of the Act, 47 U.S.C. 405, and section 1.429 of the 
Commission's rules, 47 CFR 1.429, the Petition for Blanket Exemption 
or, in the Alternative, Petition for Reconsideration filed by the Small 
Purchasers Coalition on December 9, 2013, IS GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED 
IN PART to the extent described herein.
    IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, pursuant to the authority contained in 
section 405 of the Act, 47 U.S.C. 405, and section 1.429 of the 
Commission's rules, 47 CFR 1.429, the Petition for Reconsideration 
filed by the Blooston Private Microwave Licensees on December 6, 2013, 
IS GRNTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART to the extent described herein.
    IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Bureau SHALL SEND a copy of this 
Order on Reconsideration, including the Supplemental Final Regulatory 
Flexibility Analysis, to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small 
Business Administration.

Federal Communications Commission.
Pamela Arluk,
Acting Chief, Pricing Policy Division, Wireline Competition Bureau.
[FR Doc. 2014-22868 Filed 9-25-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P