NEWS News media Information 202 / 418-0500Fax-On-Demand 202 / 418-2830TTY 202/418-2555Internet: http://www.fcc.govftp.fcc.gov Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, S.W. Washington, D. C. 20554 This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action. Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official action. See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Circ 1974). FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NEWS MEDIA CONTACT: March 12, 2013 Angie Kronenberg (202) 418-2100 STATEMENT OF FCC COMMISSIONER MIGNON L. CLYBURN ON RURAL CALL COMPLETION CONSENT DECREE WITH LEVEL 3 “I am pleased that the Commission continues to take steps to address call completion problems in rural America. Today's consent decree announcement is a welcome development in this critical area. Call completion failures stifle entrepreneurship and economic development in rural communities, and public safety is jeopardized when consumers cannot reliably complete a call, which can literally make a life or death difference. “Therefore, I want to express my gratitude to the Enforcement Bureau for its diligent investigation of this matter. The performance commitment in the consent decree, coupled with access to rural call completion data of intermediate carriers is a big step in the right direction. “In order to better protect consumers, the Commission must continue its efforts in this area, taking any and all actions that may be necessary to address this issue once and for all. I urge the staff to press forward on any other related investigations. I also look forward to concluding our pending NPRM proceeding to require the collection and maintenance of relevant call completion information. Our work to completely resolve call completion problems must not cease until this issue has been satisfactorily resolved.” - FCC -