Connection MasterHead 600x113
Vol. 9 No. 50            December 23, 2013
In This Issue
TOP OF THE NEWS
COMPTEL PLUS
AT THE FCC
COMMITTEE MEETINGS
PUBLICATION NOTE

The COMPTEL Connection will be on hiatus during the holidays. 

We will resume publication on Monday, January 6.

In the meantime, follow us on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. 
MEMBER NEWS








For more information about submitting member company news, please contact Gail Norris.
FCC DEADLINES

January 8

January 16

February 18
SOCIALIZE WITH COMPTEL

 

@COMPTEL 

@COMPTELPLUS 

@COMPTELADVOCACY
                          

Diamond Rio publicity shot

 
from the Board and Staff of COMPTEL
 
TOP OF THE NEWS

COMPTEL Thanks Jerry James for Six Years' Service
Fall 2011 - Jorge
Jerry James
The board, staff and membership of COMPTEL would like to thank CEO Jerry James for his service and dedication to the association.  After six and a half years at CEO, he will be stepping down at the end of the month with plans to pursue new ventures in the telecom private sector. Jerry has been involved with COMPTEL since the late 1980s, first as a board member, former chairman and then as CEO. During his tenure, the association has expanded and diversified its membership, increased its financial reserves and focused on bringing a variety of new services to the membership. Replacing Jerry will be former Mississippi Congressman Chip Pickering, who will assume the role of CEO on January 2, 2014.
COMPTEL PLUS
Don't Gamble on Your Company's Success 
Exhibit at COMPTEL PLUS and Win Big! 
If you hit the new business jackpot at our Spring 2013 convention in Las Vegas, you can't afford to miss the opportunity to exhibit at the COMPTEL PLUS Spring 2014 Convention & EXPO, which returns to the Aria Resort & Casino, March 16-19. With new EXPO Hall attractions, live entertainment and more promotional giveaways, COMPTEL PLUS is sure to bring, and keep, the attention of top decision makers and your new customers. 
 
Can you afford not to be seen in the COMPTEL PLUS EXPO hall? Prime booth space is going fast! E-mail Kevin Morris or call 202-296-6650 to find out how you can win big by exhibiting at COMPTEL PLUS. 
 
Register Now for COMPTEL PLUS and Save  
Take advantage of significant registration savings on the COMPTEL PLUS Spring 2014 Convention & EXPO! Register now and receive the early bird discount on full conference and networking passes! COMPTEL PLUS will take place March 16-19 in Las Vegas.

In addition to being able to register early, you can book your room at our host hotel, the Aria Resort & Casino. Rooms typically go fast, so plan to make your reservations now! 
 
 
AT THE FCC
COMPTEL Files Ex Parte Following Up on 
Meeting with Technology Transitions Task Force 
Last week, COMPTEL filed an ex parte with the FCC, following up to its meeting with the Technology Transitions Task Force. In the filing, COMPTEL consolidated a number of documents and information previously submitted to the Commission in other pending proceedings that demonstrate the significance of the wholesale provisions of the Act and support COMPTEL's recommendations to (1) develop a last mile solution so that consumers may access alternative service providers and (2) confirm the Act's interconnection rights using IP facilities. COMPTEL urged the Commission to focus on and resolve these two issues as it considers the legal and policy issues of the technology transitions.
 
Rural Call Completion Order Published
FNPRM Comments Due January 16 
 
The FCC's rural call completion order was published last week in the Federal Register. The order's effective date is January 16, 2014, except for Sec. 64.2201 of the Commission's rules, which will become effective January 31, 2014, and Secs. 64.2103, 64.2105, and 64.2107 of the rules and the information collection in paragraph 67 of this Report and Order, which contains information collection requirements that have not been approved by Office of Management and Budget. The Commission must still seek OMB's Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) approval for the information collection. Once PRA approval has been obtained, the Commission will the publish a document in the Federal Register announcing the effective date of Secs. 64.2103, 64.2105, and 64.2107 of the rules. 
 
Comments on the related Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) are due at the FCC on or before January 16, 2014, and reply comments are due on or before February 18, 2014. The FNPRM asks for comment on (1) whether it should require covered providers to file separate reports that segregate auto-dialer traffic; (2) whether it should impose the record retention and reporting requirements on intermediate carriers and whether it should require intermediate carriers to certify that they are terminating traffic in compliance with all intercarrier compensation orders, tariffs and agreements; (3) whether it should modify the safe harbor to include compliance with "industry practices to manage call termination" and adopt a safe harbor for carriers that match or exceed a rural ILEC's reported terminating call answer rate in specific OCNs; and (4) whether it should require rural ILECs above a certain size to report their terminating call answer rate data.
COMMITTEE MEETINGS 
All COMPTEL Committee meetings are held at the Association's headquarters, 1200 G St NW, Suite 350, Washington, DC 20005, unless otherwise noted.  All times listed are Eastern. For more information, call 202-296-6650.

January 7        Regulatory/Legislative Committee Meeting
2 p.m.              Contact Karen Reidy

January 14      Regulatory/Legislative Committee Meeting 
2 p.m.              Contact Karen Reidy
© 2013. All Rights Reserved.