********************************************************    
                         NOTICE
********************************************************

This document was converted from
WordPerfect or Word to ASCII Text format.

Content from the original version of the document such as
headers, footers, footnotes, endnotes, graphics, and page numbers
will not show up in this text version.

All text attributes such as bold, italic, underlining, etc. from the
original document will not show up in this text version.

Features of the original document layout such as
columns, tables, line and letter spacing, pagination, and margins
will not be preserved in the text version.

If you need the complete document, download the
WordPerfect version or Adobe Acrobat version, if available.

*****************************************************************
Before the
               Federal Communications Commission
     Washington, D.C. 20554
     

In the Matter of                        )
Administration of the                        )    CC Docket No. 92-237
North American Numbering Plan           )    
                                   )
and                                )
                                   )
North American Numbering Plan           )    NSD File No. L-99-92
Cost Recovery Contribution Factor            )    
and Fund Size                           )

                             ORDER


Adopted:  December 29, 1999             Released: December 30, 1999

By the Deputy Chief, Network Services Division, Common Carrier Bureau:

     
 1.  By this Order, we approve the compensation plan for the North American Numbering Plan
(NANP) Administration for its Fiscal Year 2000 funding period, which will run from March 2000
through June 2001.  As detailed below, we find that North American Billing and Collection, Inc.
(NBANC) complied with the Commission's rules in calculating the NANP contribution factor,
and we therefore approve the contribution factor.

      1.  In the original NANP Order, the Commission required all telecommunications
carriers to share in the cost recovery for numbering administration.  The Commission further
required each telecommunications carrier to base its contribution to the North American
Numbering Plan Administrator's (NANPA) cost recovery mechanism on its net
telecommunications revenues.  NBANC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Exchange
Carriers' Association (NECA), currently serves as the billing and collection agent (B&C Agent)
for the NANP.

      2.  On July 14, 1999, the Commission released the Consolidated Forms Order, which
simplified various filing requirements for communications providers.  The Consolidated Forms Order
modified the Commission's rules for contributions to the NANP funding mechanism to base these
contributions on end-user telecommunications revenues, rather than net revenues, as previously
mandated.  Further, pursuant to the Consolidated Forms Order, contributors to the NANP fund are
required to report their revenue annually on the new, consolidated Telecommunications Reporting
Worksheet, FCC Form 499-A, which will be due April 1 of each year.  In order to shift the NANP
funding period to accommodate the April 1 revenue filing date, the Commission mandated that the
Fiscal Year 2000 funding period cover the sixteen month period from March 2000 through June 2001. 
Because 1999 calendar year end-user revenue data will not be available until April 2000, to calculate
the contribution factor for Fiscal Year 2000, the Commission directed NBANC to use revenue data
from FCC Form 499-S, collected by the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) on
September 1, 1999, which represents January through June 1999 end-user billed revenues.  It further
directed the NBANC to use the contributor data filed in the April consolidated worksheet to perform a
"true-up" for the contributions in July 2000.  Beginning in July 2001, the NANP funding period will
return to a twelve month cycle from July through June, based on the April worksheet filing.  Finally,
the Consolidated Forms Order reduced the minimum contribution to the NANP funding mechanism
from $100 to $25.

      3.  Pursuant to section 52.16(a) of the Commission's rules, the NBANC filed its Fiscal
Year 2000 report with the Commission, establishing the contribution factor and fund size required
to finance U.S. carriers' share of the NANPA's costs as well as the NBANC's own billing and
collection costs for Fiscal Year 2000.  NBANC indicated that the total funding requirement for
FY 2000 for existing NANPA functions is $6,536,667, and that the total funding requirement for
FY 2000 for existing NBANC functions is $440,833.  NBANC states that in early November
1999, it received requests from the North American Numbering Council (NANC), the federal
advisory committee that advises the FCC on numbering administration policy issues, to include
two additional funding requirements in its NANP funding collection from domestic carriers for
Fiscal Year 2000.  These additional NANP administration costs include $700,000 for
performance of random and for-cause audits of the numbering administrator's activities, to be
performed by a yet-to-be-determined entity, and $8.2 million in start-up and administrative costs
related to the implementation of thousands-block number pooling during FY 2000.   NBANC
states that collectively, all of the above-listed activities require a funding amount of $15,877,500
for the sixteen month period covered by Fiscal Year 2000.

      4.  International contributors to the NANP funding mechanism, namely Canada and
the Caribbean nations, only contribute to the funding of the numbering plan administration
functions performed by the NANPA, as the NANPA does not perform central office code
administration for these countries. According to NBANC's computations, international
contributors will need to contribute a total of $211,563 for the sixteen month period to be
covered by Fiscal Year 2000, or approximately three percent of the total NANP funding
requirement for Fiscal Year 2000 (excluding the additional costs for auditing and thousands-block
pooling implementation).  NBANC has calculated Canada's contribution to be $177,490 and the
Caribbean nations' combined contribution to be $34,073.  These contributions were estimated
based on population and adjusted to reflect number administration work that is performed by
entities other than the NANPA.

      5.  Reducing the Fiscal Year 2000 fund requirement by the Canadian and Caribbean
contribution leaves a balance of $15,665,937 to be collected from domestic telecommunications
service providers. As specified in the Consolidated Forms Order, domestic telecommunications
service providers must make a minimum contribution of $25 to NANP funding, even if they do
not have end-user revenues.  For Fiscal Year 2000 funding calculations, NBANC multiplied
$33.33 ($25 adjusted to cover the sixteen month period) by 1,790, the number of carriers that it
projected will owe the minimum. NBANC then deducted a contribution amount of $59,660 for
those carriers from the funding requirement for domestic telecommunications service providers,
leaving a net requirement of $15,606,277.  Consistent with the prior funding year, NBANC
proposes to retain a projected surplus for Fiscal Year 1999 of approximately $425,000 as an
allowance against uncollectibles.

      6.  To compute domestic telecommunications service providers' contribution factor,
NBANC used end-user telecommunications revenue data provided to USAC on the consolidated
worksheets filed September 1, 1999, which covered the six-month period from January through
June 1999.  NBANC adjusted the reported end-user revenue figure, $101,463,154,823.79, to
reflect the sixteen-month funding period, by multiplying it by 8/3, resulting in an adjusted end-user
revenue figure of $270,568,412,683.44.  NBANC then divided the net Fiscal Year 2000
contribution requirement ($15,606,277) by the adjusted end-user revenue figure
($270,568,412,683.44) to calculate a contribution factor of 0.0000577 for Fiscal Year 2000
contributions.  NBANC indicates that after all carriers have filed the required FCC Form 499-A on
April 1, 2000, pursuant to the Commission's directive, it will revise the payments for all carriers based
on calendar year revenues, and will file any necessary modification to the contribution factor with the
Commission in May 2000, with revised bills being issued to carriers beginning in July 2000 for the
balance of the funding year. 

      7.  The Division has reviewed NBANC's submission and approves: (1) its projected
Fiscal Year 2000 funding requirements for NANPA and for NBANC, (2) its retention of a
$425,000 surplus from Fiscal Year 1999 against uncollectibles, and (3) the 0.000057 contribution
factor for U.S. telecommunications service providers.  Based on its review of the report, the
Division further finds that NBANC's computations comply with section 52.16(a) of the
Commission's rules and determines that it may begin billing domestic carriers in February 2000
for the March 2000 through June 2001 Fiscal Year 2000 funding period at the computed amount.
We note that, in addition to updating industry end-user revenue figures to reflect the April 1
calendar year 1999 filings, the "true-up" mechanism that NBANC intends to follow may provide
an opportunity to recalculate the total funding amount projected for Fiscal Year 2000, in light of
anticipated Commission decisions with respect to implementation of thousands-block number
pooling.  Should such a recalculation prove necessary, the Commission may direct that refunds be
made to carriers. 

      8.  Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to section 251(e) of the Communications
Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C.  251(e), and sections 0.91, 0.291, and 52.16 and 52.17 of
the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R.  0.91, 0.291, 52.16 and 52.17, that NBANC apply the
contribution factor of 0.0000577 to the end-user revenue of each telecommunications carrier in
the United States.  Payments will be due March 12, 2000.  Carriers with contribution
requirements in excess of $1,600 may opt to pay in sixteen equal monthly installments.  A
minimum contribution requirement of $25 applies to all telecommunications carriers.

      9.  IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, that the Secretary shall provide a copy of this Order
to each state utility commission and to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business
Administration.

                              FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION




                              Blaise A. Scinto
                              Deputy Chief
                              Network Services Division
                              Common Carrier Bureau