FCC Record, Volume 14, No. 26, Pages 13834 to 14523, August 23 - September 3, 1999 Page: 14,485

                                
Federal CommunIcatIoIII I IIII_ Comms      F     99I22

222's specific definition of CPNI is meant to govern the more general use of the term
"information" in section 272(c)(1).437
142.   While the legislative history is silent about the meaning of "information" in
section 272(c)(1), the structure of the Act indicates strongly that the provision is susceptible to
differing meanings. Indeed, as the courts have cautioned, the Commission is bound to move
beyond dictionary meanings of terms and to consider other possible interpretations, assess
statutory objectives, weigh congressional policy, and apply our expertise in
telecommunications in determining the meaning of provisions.438 In this instance, we believe
that the structure of the Act belies petitioners' contention that the term "information" has a
plain meaning that encompasses CPNI. In enacting section 222, Congress carved out very
specific restrictions governing consumer privacy in CPNI and consolidated those restrictions
in a single, comprehensive provision. We believe that the specific requirements governing
CPNI use are contained in that section and we disfavor, accordingly, an interpretation of
section 272 that would create constraints for CPNI beyond those embodied in the specific
provision delineating those constraints. As a practical matter, the interpretation proffered by
petitioners would bar BOCs from sharing CPNI with their affiliates: the burden imposed by
the nondiscrimination requirements would, in this context, pose a potentially insurmountable
burden because a BOC soliciting approval to share CPNI with its affiliate would have to
solicit approval for countless other carriers as well, known or unknown.439 We do not believe
that is what Congress envisioned when it enacted sections 222 and 272. Rather, as we
concluded in the CPNI Order, we find it a more reasonable interpretation of the statute to
conclude that section 222 contemplates a sharing of CPNI among all affiliates (whether BOCs
or others), consistent with customer expectations that related entities will share information so
as to offer services best tailored to customers' needs.440 For these reasons, we find that the
"plain meaning" argument raised by Comptel and Intermedia is not persuasive, and further
that their meaning is not the one Congress most likely intended. Therefore, we affirm our
previous conclusion.
437 CPNJ Order, 13 FCC Rcd at 8174-75,  160. 47 U.S.C.  222(f)(1) defines CPNI, in part, as:
(A) information that relates to the quantity,\technical configuration, type, destination, and amount of use
of a telecommunications service subscribed to by any customer of a telecommunications carrier, and that is made
available to the carrier by the customer solely by virtue of the carrier-customer relationship; and
(B) information contained in the bills pertaining to telephone exchange service or telephone toll service
received by a customer of a carrier . . .
438 See Alarm Indus. Communications Comm. v. FCC, 131 F.3d 1066, 1069 (D.C. Cir. 1997).
439 CPNI Order, 13 FCC Rcd at 8174, 1'59.
440 CPNI Order, 13 FCC Rcd at 8175,  160.

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Federal C nnncations C      . vision

FCC 99-223