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Qwest’s and Verizon’s forbearance petitions on reporting requirem...

Qwest’s and Verizon’s forbearance petitions on reporting requirements remain active, though the FCC granted the carriers some relief in Saturday’s order on a similar AT&T petition (CD Sept 9 p1). AT&T, Verizon, Qwest, Embarq and Frontier filed petitions seeking…

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forbearance from Automated Reporting Management Information System requirements. A footnote in the AT&T order said, “To the extent that the [other] petitions seek other regulatory relief, those requests remain pending.” The Embarq and Frontier petitions sought less relief than AT&T and so are considered taken care of, but Qwest and Verizon asked for more relief than AT&T. The carriers can withdraw their petitions if they're satisfied with the relief won Saturday. A Qwest spokesman, who told us Monday that the carrier believed its petition had been handled, said Tuesday that the petition is still under review at the FCC. “We continue to ask the relief that it is seeking,” he said. Verizon is “reviewing what is still outstanding in our petition and will make a determination,” a spokesman said. Meanwhile, Frontier plans to ask the FCC to kill cost-assignment rules for all price-cap regulated carriers, it said in a statement sent late Monday. Saturday, the FCC gave Qwest and Verizon relief from the rules, which require carriers to keep records that separate interstate and intrastate costs, among other requirements. AT&T got relief in April. Frontier said it was pleased that the FCC had dealt with its petition for forbearance from ARMIS requirements in the order Saturday. The carrier agrees with the position taken in the attached noticed of proposed rulemaking, it said -- “in the event the FCC determines that collection of certain of that information is warranted, the reporting obligation should be on an industry-wide basis.”