Requesting Confidential Information

Wire Center Confidential Line Count Information

Those seeking access to wire center line count data, submitted pursuant to 47 C.F.R § 36.611 and 36.612and for which confidential treatment was sought, must comply with the confidentiality procedures developed consistent with the two orders listed below.

The Line Count Confidentiality Order, issued April 7, 2000, by the FCC, denied some requests made by certain non-rural carriers to receive confidential treatment of quarterly line count data at the wire center-level. The FCC reasoned that the number of lines in wire centers that receive support may be determined once the FCC releases the following information:

• Statewide forward-looking support amounts,
• Carrier-by-carrier hold harmless support amounts, and
• Per-line support amounts available in a wire center.

Public availability of per-line and total support amounts are essential to ensure that support is portable to eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs).

The Interim Protective Order, adopted April 7, 2000, introduced by the Common Carrier Bureau, facilitated the review of line count data at the wire center-level submitted for wire centers that do not receive support under the High Cost Program. Confidential line count information defined in the Interim Protective Order is subject to the terms of that Order until the FCC makes a final determination on the manner in which the information is to be treated.

Any authorized representative who wants access to Wire Center Confidential Line Count Information (WC CLCI) pursuant to the Interim Protective Order of the FCC (CC Docket No. 96-45, April 7, 2000, DA 00-773) should contact us in writing.

• Written requests for access to WC CLCI must state whether an inspection or a copy of the CLCI is being requested, along with the name of the authorized representative applying for access to the CLCI. A WC CLCI set is comprised of one complete quarterly submission and can be described by referring to the due date of the filing. A separate written request is required for access to each quarterly submission.
  • Each written request for access to WC CLCI should be mailed with an appropriate certificate of service (which must include the appropriate submitting parties and the FCC) and appropriate declaration or declarations to us at the address below, and to each of the appropriate submitting parties:
    
    USAC
    Attn: WC CLCI Data Request
    2000 L Street NW, Suite 200
    Washington, DC 20036
• All appropriate submitting parties who furnished WC CLCI in confidence will be notified by the requesting authorized representative at the time that the request for disclosure is submitted, and will be afforded five days notice of the disclosure of their CLCI. Our staff is authorized to identify the carriers that have furnished WC CLCI in confidence. Contact the High Cost Program for a service of process list.

• We will make every effort to schedule an appointment to provide access to the requested WC CLCI within not less than six days or more than 20 days of receipt of the notice at our office in Washington, DC. Authorized representatives should call the High Cost Program to schedule an appointment. An authorized representative is considered to be:
  • The individual identified on the declaration by the reviewing party;
  • Counsel for the reviewing party, including in-house counsel and their associated attorneys, paralegals, clerical staff, and other employees, to the extent reasonably necessary to render professional services by counsel for a reviewing party;
  • Specified persons, including employees of the reviewing parties, requested by counsel to furnish technical or other expert advice or service or otherwise engaged to prepare material for the express purpose of formulating filings in this docket, except that disclosure to persons in a position to use this information for competitive commercial or business purposes shall be prohibited; and
  • Any person designated by the Commission in the public interest, upon such terms as the Commission may deem proper.

• A reviewing party is a person or entity reviewing or seeking in good faith to review WC CLCI only for the purpose of reviewing the underlying information and verifying per-line interstate access universal service support amounts.

• If the required declaration and a certificate of service that includes the date served from an authorized representative is on file, then our staff is authorized to make the specified CLCI available to the authorized representative. Access to the CLCI may be provided at a previously scheduled appointment during normal business hours; 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM ET.

• Access to the WC CLCI will not be provided to an authorized representative until a properly executed original declaration (as specified in these procedures) has been provided.

• We will maintain a log of all requests along with a copy of the properly executed declaration and certificate of service. The log will specify the date of the request and will clearly identify when the files were inspected or copied (noting paper or electronic copy). The ultimate disposition of the copy should be noted in the USAC log.

• Requests for paper copies of WC CLCI for use by authorized representatives must be submitted in writing. The fee for this service is 15 cents per page, plus any applicable postage and handling charges.

• When the WC CLCI is no longer useful for the purposes set forth in the Interim Protective Order, the authorized representative should either return or destroy the WC CLCI and provide notification of its destruction.

• Concerns regarding procedures for handling access to WC CLCI should be addressed to the FCC.

Declaration

Interstate Access Confidential Line Count Information

Those who seek to access Interstate Access Support (IAS) line count data submitted pursuant to 47 C.F.R. Section 54.802 and for which confidential treatment was sought, must comply with the confidentiality procedures that were developed to be consistent with two orders adopted by the FCC's Common Carrier Bureau.

The IAS Confidentiality Orderdenied some requests by certain price-cap local exchange carriers (LECs) for confidential treatment of line count data submitted in accordance with the FCC's rules that implement the IAS component. The Bureau denied the confidentiality requests only to the extent necessary to publish the following information:

• Total interstate access support by state and by eligible carrier within each state; and
• Per-line interstate access support available in each price-cap LEC's study area, by Unbundled Network Element (UNE) zone and customer class.

The IAS Interim Protective Order facilitated and expedited the review of the study area or UNE zone line count data submitted (pursuant to Section 54.802 of the FCC's rules) that cannot be determined when USAC releases the results of calculations showing per-line and statewide IAS support amounts. Confidential line count information defined in the IAS Interim Protective Order is subject to the terms of that Order until the FCC makes a final determination on the manner in which the data is to be treated.

Any authorized representative who wants to access Interstate Access Support Confidential Line Count Information (IAS CLCI) pursuant to the IAS Interim Protective Order of the FCC (CC Docket No. 96-45, September 20, 2000, DA 00-2133) can do so by contacting us in writing.

Written requests for access to IAS CLCI must state whether an inspection or a copy of the CLCI is being requested, along with the name of the authorized representative who would be provided access to the CLCI. An IAS CLCI set is comprised of one complete quarterly submission and can be described by referring to the due date of the filing. A separate written request is required for access to each quarterly submission.

Each written request for access to IAS CLCI should be mailed with an appropriate certificate of service (which must include the appropriate submitting parties and the FCC) and appropriate declaration or declarations to USAC at the address below, and to each of the appropriate submitting parties:

USAC
Attn: IAS CLCI Data Request
High Cost Program
2000 L Street NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20036

• All appropriate submitting parties who furnished IAS CLCI in confidence will be notified by the requesting authorized representative at the time the request for disclosure is submitted and will be afforded five days notice of the disclosure of their CLCI. Our staff is authorized to identify the carriers that have furnished IAS CLCI in confidence. A service of process list can be obtained by contacting the High Cost Program.

• We will make every effort to schedule an appointment to provide access to the requested IAS CLCI within not less than six days or more than 20 days of receipt of the notice at our office in Washington, DC. Authorized representatives should contact the High Cost Program to schedule an appointment. Authorized representatives are:
  • The individual identified on the declaration by the reviewing party;
  • Counsel for the reviewing party, including in-house counsel and their associated attorneys, paralegals, clerical staff, and other employees, to the extent reasonably necessary to render professional services by counsel for a reviewing party;
  • Specified persons, including employees of the reviewing parties, requested by counsel to furnish technical or other expert advice or service or otherwise engaged to prepare material for the express purpose of formulating filings in this docket, except that disclosure to persons in a position to use this information for competitive commercial or business purposes shall be prohibited; and
  • Any person designated by the Commission in the public interest, upon such terms as the Commission may deem proper.
• A reviewing party is a person or entity reviewing or seeking in good faith to review IAS CLCI only for the purpose of reviewing the underlying information and verifying per-line interstate access universal service support amounts.

• If the required declaration and a certificate of service that includes the date served from an authorized representative is on file, then our staff is authorized to make the specified CLCI available to the authorized representative. Access to the CLCI may be provided at a previously scheduled appointment during business hours; 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM ET.

• Access to the CLCI will not be provided to an authorized representative until a properly executed original declaration as specified in these procedures is provided.

• We will maintain a log of all requests along with a copy of the properly executed declaration and certificate of service. The log will specify the date of the request and will clearly identify when the files were inspected or copied (noting whether paper or electronic copy). The ultimate disposition of the copy should be noted in the USAC log.

• Requests for paper copies of IAS CLCI for use by authorized representatives must be submitted in writing. The fee for this service is 15 cents per page plus any applicable postage and handling charges.

• When the IAS CLCI is no longer useful for the purposes set forth in the IAS Interim Protective Order, the authorized representative should either return the WC CLCI or destroy it and provide notification of its destruction.

• Concerns regarding procedures for handling access to IAS CLCI should be addressed to the FCC.

  Declaration