Pay Telephone Reclassification and Compensation

On April 15, 1997, the Common Carrier Bureau (``Bureau'') granted a limited waiver of the Commission's requirement that effective intrastate tariffs for payphone services be in compliance with federal guidelines, specifically that the tariffs comply with the ``new services'' test, as set forth in the Payphone Reclassification Proceeding, CC Docket No. 96-128 [``Payphone Order'' 61 FR 52307 (October 7, 1997); ``Order on Reconsideration'' 61 FR 65341 (December 12, 1996)]. Local exchange carriers (``LECs'') must comply with this requirement, among others, before they are eligible to receive the compensation from interexchange carriers (``IXCs'') that is mandated in that proceeding. Because some LEC intrastate tariffs for payphone services are not in full compliance with the Commission's guidelines, the Bureau granted all LECs a limited waiver until May 19, 1997 to file intrastate tariffs for payphone services consistent with the ``new services'' test, pursuant to the federal guidelines established in the Order on Reconsideration, subject to the terms discussed therein.