Verizon has filed a request with the Federal Communications Commission asking that the agency either eliminate or relax its requirements that paper-notices be provided in cases of copper retirement project notifications, and the Commission has published a public notice seeking public comment on whether to grant this request. Specifically, on December 15, 2016, Verizon filed a request for clarification, or in the alternative, a petition to waive its copper retirement rules, and in response, on December 22, 2016, the Commission issued a public notice seeking comment on Verizon’s filing asking for a change in, or waiver from, what is required by section 51.332 of the Commission’s rules. According to Verizon’s filings, the FCC’s current rules require that all copper retirement notifications, without exception, sent to all impacted interconnecting entities, state public utility commissions, state governors, tribal entities, and the Secretary of Defense consist of paper copies of not just the notice itself, but also the list of addresses of impacted customers, which in some cases can be as long as thousands of pages. Verizon is asking that the Commission waive its application of this particular rule, or in the alternative, allow service providers to continue filing paper notices, but instead of attaching paper copies of the mandatory Exhibit A containing impacted addresses, allow instead for Exhibit A to contain hyperlinks that when accessed on the Internet connect to searchable, online databases. Verizon argues that not only will this modification or waiver of rules lessen the administrative burden for wireline carriers, but it will also give the various recipient entities the ability to digitally search the impacted address database, which is something that could not be done before. Comments are due on or before Friday, January 6, 2017 and reply comments are due on or before Friday, January 12, 2017.
