Implementation of Section 254(g) of the Communications Act of 1934, as Amended

Pursuant to Section 254(g) of the Communications Act of 1934, which was added by Section 101(a) of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, the Commission adopts a geographic rate averaging rule ``to require that the rates charged by providers of interexchange telecommunications services to subscribers in rural and high cost areas shall be no higher than the rates charged by each such provider to its subscribers in urban areas'' and a rate integration rule to require ``that a provider of interstate interexchange services shall provide such services to its subscribers in each State at rates no higher than the rates charged to its subscribers in any other State.'' These rules will ensure that subscribers in rural and high-cost areas will not be charged higher rates for interexchange services than subscribers in urban areas, and that interexchange carriers will offer services to all their service areas--whether rural, high-cost or urban--on the same terms.