Transcript Document

An Overview of the
Responsible Party’s Responsibility
Following Part 68 Privatization
Part 68 Background
 Prior to the Commission’s Part 68 rules, terminal
equipment was manufactured almost exclusively by
Western Electric (i.e., Bell System) to ensure that no
harmful terminal equipment would be connected to
the public network
 The Part 68 rules and regulations were established to
remove the exclusivity and create competition
 Premised on a comprise, Part 68 rules mandated that:
 Service providers allow terminal equipment manufactured
by anyone to be connected to their network, provided;
 The terminal equipment demonstrates compliance to the
technical criteria established for preventing network harm
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Responsibility of Terminal Equipment Manufactures
 Terminal equipment approved and/or registered by
the Commission for connection to the network had to
demonstrate compliance to: [47 CFR Part 68, Oct. 2000]
 Preventing 4 network harms: [Part 68, Subpart D]
• 1) Electrical hazards to telephone company personnel
• 2) Damage to telephone company equipment
• 3) Malfunction of telephone company billing equipment
• 4) Degradation of service to persons other then the users of the
subject terminal equipment, their calling or called parties
 Hearing Aid Compatibility (“HAC”) and Volume Control
(“VC”) requirements [§§ 68.4, 68.318(c)]
 Consumer protection requirements [§§ 68.318(d), 68.318(e)]
 Product labeling requirements [§68.300]
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Responsibility of Terminal Equipment Manufactures
 Before compliant terminal equipment could be
connected to the public network, it had to be
Registered with the Commission [47 CFR Part 68, Oct.
2000]
 Registration process required: [Part 68, Subpart C]
 Submitting an Application including:
• Form 159, and
• Form 730 with Attachment Exhibits A – J
– reasons for App., test report, quality control &
compliance statement, product labeling example, copy of
owner’s manual, etc..
 Obtaining a FCC Registration number for inclusion in the
product’s FCC Registration Number
 Approved/Registered terminal equipment would be
entered into a MS Access database
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Part 68 Biennial Review
 The Telecommunications Act of 1996 directed the
FCC to review its rules every even-numbered year
and repeal or modify those found to be no longer in
the public interest
 Because of the rapid pace of change in both network
and telephone equipment technologies, the FCC
found it increasingly difficult for the regulatory
process to keep pace thus creating a public disservice
 Pursuant to the FCC Report and Order, CC Docket
No. 99-216, FCC 00-400, the FCC minimized the
government’s role in Part 68 by privatizing
significant portions of its rules governing the
connection of terminal equipment to the public
network and privatized the standards development
and terminal equipment approval processes
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Part 68 Privatization
 To ensure continued uniformity and a level playing
field that will assure robust competition, the FCC
mandated the establishment of the Administrative
Council for Terminal Attachments (“ACTA”) to
assume functions privatized, such as:
 adopt technical criteria for terminal equipment
 establish product-labeling requirements
 establish and maintain a database of equipment approved as
compliant with the technical criteria
 many of the FCC’s past Part 68 functions
 ACTA was formed through the co-sponsorship and
support of the Alliance for Telecommunications
Industry Solutions (ATIS) and Telecommunications
Industry Association (TIA)
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Responsibility of the Responsible Party
Pursuant to 47 C.F.R. Part 68, Oct. 1, 2001
(post-privatization)
Responsible Party’s1 (“RP”) must ensure terminal
equipment2 connected to the public network complies
and shall continue to comply with the applicable Part
68 rules and regulations and with the applicable
ACTA-adopted technical criteria [§§ 68.7, 68.218(a)]
1
See slide 47 CFR §68.3: Definitions
2Terminal
Equipment: As used in Part 68, communications equipment located on
customer premises at the end of a communications link, used to permit the stations
involved to accomplish the provision of telecommunications or information
services. [§68.3]
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Responsibility of the Responsible Party
 Part 68 rules and regulations (Oct., 2001) includes:
 Methods for achieving terminal equipment approval:
[§68.201]
• Certified by a Telecommunications Certification Body
(“TCB”), or
• Declared compliant by the Responsible Party utilizing the
Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity (“SDoC”) process
 Hearing Aid Compatibility (“HAC”) and Volume Control
(“VC”) requirements [§§ 68.4, 68.318(c)]
 Consumer protection requirements [§§ 68.318(d), 68.318(e)]
 Requirement to designate an Agent for Service [§68.418]
 Requirement to submit all information required by the ACTA
for inclusion in the Part 68 database [§68.610 (b)]
 Requirement to label terminal equipment as specified by
ACTA [§§ 68.300, 68.354 (a)(b), and §68.612]
• TIA/EIA/TSB-168, Telecommunications - Telephone Terminal
Equipment - Labeling Requirements, June 2001
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Responsibility of the Responsible Party
 ACTA-adopted technical criteria encompasses:
 preventing 4 network harms:
• 1) Electrical hazards to telephone company personnel
• 2) Damage to telephone company equipment
• 3) Malfunction of telephone company billing equipment
• 4) Degradation of service to persons other then the users of the
subject terminal equipment, their calling or called parties
 ACTA-adopted technical criteria (to-date) includes:
 TIA/EIA/IS-968, Telecommunications -- Telephone Terminal
Equipment -- Technical Requirements for Connection of Terminal
Equipment to the Telephone Network
 TIA/EIA/IS-883, Telecommunications -- Telephone Terminal
Equipment -- Supplemental Technical Requirements for
Connection of Stutter Dial Tone Detection Devices and ADSL
Modems to the Telephone Network, June 2001
 T1.TRQ.6-2001, Technical Requirements Document, SHDSL,
HDSL2, HDSL4 Digital Subscriber Line Terminal Equipment to
Prevent Harm to the Telephone Network
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Certified by a Telecommunications Certification Body
 Responsible Party’s may have equipment certified by
a TCB:
 Certification of equipment by a TCB shall be based on an
application with all the information specified in Part 68. The
TCB shall process the application to determine whether the
product meets the Commission's requirements and shall
issue a written grant of equipment authorization
 TCBs shall be accredited by the National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST) under its National
Voluntary Conformity Assessment Evaluation (NVCASE)
program or other recognized programs based on ISO/IEC
Guide 65, to comply with the Commission's qualification
criteria for TCBs. TCBs shall comply with the requirements
in §68.162
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Responsible Party SDoC Method
Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity is a procedure
where the Responsible Party, as defined in §68.3,
makes measurements or takes other necessary steps
to ensure that the terminal equipment complies with
the appropriate standards [§68.320 (a)]
 Responsible Party shall include in the SDoC:
 the identification and a description of the responsible party
for the SDoC and the product, including the model number
of the product [§68.324 (a)(1)]
 a statement that the terminal equipment conforms with
applicable technical requirements, and a reference to the
technical requirements [§68.324 (a)(2)]
 the date and place of issue of the declaration [§68.324 (a)(3)]
 the signature, name and function of person making
declaration [§68.324 (a)(4)]
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Responsible Party SDoC Method
 a statement that the handset, if any, complies with §68.316
defining hearing aid compatibility (HAC), or that it does not
comply with that section [§68.324 (a)(5)]
 any other information required to be included in the SDoC
by the Administrative Council of Terminal Attachments
[§68.324 (a)(6)]
 A copy of the SDoC shall be:
 provided with the terminal equipment [§68.324 (c)]
 provided to the ACTA [§68.324 (e)(2)]
 freely available to the general public and accessible to the
disabled community on the RP’s website3 [§68.324 (e)(3)]
3 If
the RP does not have a functional and reliable website, the RP shall inform
ACTA of such circumstances, and the ACTA shall make a copy available on its
website.
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Responsible Party SDoC Method
 Notice that the FCC prohibits the use of non-HAC
telephones (if applicable), and a list of such locations
shall also be provided in the SDoC [§§ 68.224 (a),
68.324 (f)]
 Responsible Party for a SDoC shall maintain records
for a period of at least 10 years containing:
 a copy of the Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity [§68.326
(a)(1)]
 the identity of the testing facility, including the name
address, phone number and other contact information
[§68.326 (a)(2)]
 a detailed explanation of the testing procedure utilized to
determine whether terminal equipment conforms to the
appropriate technical criteria [§68.326 (a)(3)]
 a copy of the test results for terminal equipment compliance
with the appropriate technical criteria [§68.326 (a)(4)]
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Responsible Party SDoC Method
 Responsible Party for a SDoC shall compile and
retain a description of the measurement facilities
employed for testing the equipment, and the
description shall contain information required by
ACTA [§68.346]
 Responsible Party for a SDoC may authorize a
second party to manufacture the equipment covered
by the SDoC provided that the Responsible Party
shall continue to be responsible for the equipment
produced [§68.322]
 In the case of transactions affecting the Responsible
Party, such as a transfer of control to another
company, mergers, or transfer of manufacturing
rights, the successor entity shall become the
Responsible Party [§68.322]
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Responsible Party SDoC Method
 Pursuant to §68.348:
 (a) No change may be made in terminal equipment or
protective circuitry that would result in any material change
in the information contained in the SDoC;
 (b) Any other changes in terminal equipment or protective
circuitry covered by an SDoC shall only be made by the
responsible party or an authorized agent, and the responsible
party remains responsible for the performance of such
changes
 Records and materials, including the SDoC, retained
by Responsible Party must be in English
 An example of a SDoC is available in the ACTA
Guidelines and Procedures document
 Example SDoC is based on Part 68 rules and ISO/IEC
Guide 22
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Responsible Party Database Requirements
 Responsible Parties, whether they obtain terminal
equipment approval from a TCB or utilize the SDoC
process, shall submit to the [ACTA] database
administrator all information required by ACTA
[§68.610 (b)]
 ACTA required information is outlined in the
document, Guidelines and Procedures for submittal
of information for inclusion in the ACTA database of
approved Telephone Terminal Equipment ("TTE"),
Revision 1.1., October 2001
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Responsible Party Database Requirements
 Responsible Party’s must provide:
 Copy of the ACTA TTE Submission Form (~19 items)
 Signed copy of a Responsible Party’s SDoC, or TCB’s
Certificate
 Signed copy of an Indemnification & Liability Statement
 Copy of test plan/method used to verify conformity for
SDoC
 Designation of an Agent for Service that is physically
located in the USA, i.e., US Agent for Service
 Processing Fee
 ACTA’s adopted technical criteria, guidelines and
procedures for submitting TTE information, required
consumer instructions, database of approved
terminal equipment, and other related information is
available on ACTA’s website at
http://www.part68.org
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Responsibility of the Responsible Party
 Responsible Parties failing to comply with the
applicable Part 68 rules and regulations and with the
applicable ACTA-adopted technical criteria are
subject to penalties (under Federal Law) for failure
to comply with the requirements [§1.80]
 Penalties can be found in 47 U.S.C. Section 503
 A copy of 47 CFR Part 68, Oct. 1, 2001 is available
at: http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_01/47cfr68_01.html
 Other relevant documents to note:
 Report and Order In the Matter of 2000 Biennial
Regulatory Review of Part 68 of the Commission’s Rules
and Regulations, CC Docket No. 99-216, FCC 00-400,
Released December 21, 2000
 Order on Reconsideration in CC Docket No. 99-216, FCC
02-103, Released April 10, 2002
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47 CFR §68.3: Definitions
Responsible Party: The party or parties responsible for the compliance of
terminal equipment or protective circuitry intended for connection
directly to the public switched telephone network with the applicable
rules and regulations in this part and with the technical criteria
published by the Administrative Council for Terminal Attachments. If
a Telecommunications Certification Body certifies the terminal
equipment, the responsible party is the holder of the certificate for that
equipment. If the terminal equipment is the subject of a Supplier’s
Declaration of Conformity, the responsible party shall be: (1) the
manufacturer of the terminal equipment, or (2) the manufacturer of
protective circuitry that is marketed for use with terminal equipment
that is not to be connected directly to the network, or (3) if the
equipment is imported, the importer, or (4) if the terminal equipment
is assembled from individual component parts, the assembler. If the
equipment is modified by any party not working under the authority of
the responsible party, the party performing the modifications, if
located within the U.S., or the importer, if the equipment is imported
subsequent to the modifications, becomes the new responsible party.
Retailers or original equipment manufacturers may enter into an
agreement with the assembler or importer to assume the
responsibilities to ensure compliance of the terminal equipment and to
become the responsible party.
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