{"abstract":"In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) proposes to deregulate and detariff the end user interstate access charges currently included on consumers' and small businesses' local telephone bills. The proposal would also prohibit carriers from separately listing these charges on customers' bills and address issues related to the Universal Service Fund's and other federal programs' historic reliance on these charges in certain circumstances. The need to regulate and tariff those charges is declining as consumers and businesses continue to rapidly migrate away from traditional telephone service provided by local exchange carriers to next-generation voice service options. Detariffing and deregulating these charges will give carriers the flexibility to price their services competitively. Eliminating these charges from consumers' telephone bills will make it easier for consumers to understand their telephone bills, compare prices among voice service providers, and better ensure that a voice service provider's advertised price is closer to the total price that appears on its customers' bills.","action":"Notice of proposed rulemaking.","agencies":[{"raw_name":"FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION","name":"Federal Communications Commission","id":161,"url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/agencies/federal-communications-commission","json_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/api/v1/agencies/161","parent_id":null,"slug":"federal-communications-commission"}],"body_html_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/full_text/html/2020/05/21/2020-09810.html","cfr_references":[{"chapter":null,"citation_url":null,"part":"51","title":47},{"chapter":null,"citation_url":null,"part":"54","title":47},{"chapter":null,"citation_url":null,"part":"61","title":47},{"chapter":null,"citation_url":null,"part":"69","title":47}],"citation":"85 FR 30899","comment_url":null,"comments_close_on":"2020-07-06","correction_of":null,"corrections":[],"dates":"Comments are due on or before July 6, 2020, and reply comments are due on or before August 4, 2020. If you anticipate that you will be submitting comments, but find it difficult to do so within the period of time allowed by this document, you should advise the contact listed in the following as soon as possible.","disposition_notes":null,"docket_ids":["WC Docket No. 20-71","FCC 20-40","FRS 16704"],"dockets":[],"document_number":"2020-09810","effective_on":"2020-07-06","end_page":30916,"executive_order_notes":null,"executive_order_number":null,"full_text_xml_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/full_text/xml/2020/05/21/2020-09810.xml","html_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/05/21/2020-09810/eliminating-ex-ante-pricing-regulation-and-tariffing-of-telephone-access-charges","images":{},"images_metadata":{},"json_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/api/v1/documents/2020-09810?publication_date=2020-05-21","mods_url":"https://www.govinfo.gov/metadata/granule/FR-2020-05-21/2020-09810/mods.xml","not_received_for_publication":null,"page_length":18,"page_views":{"count":750,"last_updated":"2026-10-23 16:15:07 -0400"},"pdf_url":"https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-05-21/pdf/2020-09810.pdf","presidential_document_number":null,"proclamation_number":null,"public_inspection_pdf_url":"https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2020-09810.pdf?1589978728","publication_date":"2020-05-21","raw_text_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/full_text/text/2020/05/21/2020-09810.txt","regulation_id_number_info":{},"regulation_id_numbers":[],"regulations_dot_gov_info":{"comments_count":0,"agency_id":"FCC","document_id":"FCC-2020-0211-0001","checked_regulationsdotgov_at":"2023-03-01T05:24:15Z"},"regulations_dot_gov_url":null,"significant":null,"signing_date":null,"start_page":30899,"subtype":null,"title":"Eliminating Ex Ante Pricing Regulation and Tariffing of Telephone Access Charges","toc_doc":null,"toc_subject":null,"topics":["Communications common carriers","Internet","Reporting and recordkeeping requirements","Telecommunications","Telephone"],"type":"Proposed Rule","volume":85}