Rural Call Completion

Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Federal Communications Commission 47 CFR Part 64 [WC Docket No. 13-39; FCC 18-45] AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission. ACTION: Proposed rule. SUMMARY: In this document, we seek comment on rules to implement the recently enacted Improving Rural Call Quality and Reliability Act (“RCC Act”), which directs us to establish registration requirements and service quality standards for “intermediate providers”—entities that transmit calls without serving as the originating or terminating provider. By giving us clear authority to shine a light on intermediate providers and hold them accountable for their performance, the RCC Act provides an important additional tool we can use in our work to promote call completion to all Americans. We anticipate that the rules we will adopt to implement the RCC Act's direction to regulate intermediate providers will complement our covered provider monitoring rule by ensuring that the participants in the call path share in the responsibility to ensure that ( printed page 21984) calls to rural areas are completed. We also seek comment on sunsetting the recording and retention rules established in the 2013 RCC Order upon implementation of the RCC Act. DATES: Comments are due on or before June 4, 2018, and reply comments are due on or before June 19, 2018. Written comments on the Paperwork Reduction Act proposed information collection requirements must be submitted by the public, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), a…