Joint Board Seeks Comment on Separations Rules

The Federal-State Joint Board on Jurisdictional Separations is seeking comment on whether jurisdictional separations of telecom costs and revenue for rate-of-return incumbent local exchange carriers are still needed, said a public notice Friday. The notice also seeks comment on whether the rules should be reformed “when the industry is naturally transitioning away from legacy technologies and cost-based ratemaking” and whether there should be a permanent freeze of the separations rules "while considering the future course” of them. The FCC referred the issue to the Joint Board in a November order extending the current temporary freeze for up to six years (see 2411130043). Comments will be due 30 days after the item is published in the Federal Register.