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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 142 / Wednesday, July 28, 2021 / Rules and Regulations C. Response to Comments by the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration 60. The Chief Counsel did not file any comments in response to the proposed rules in this proceeding.

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D. Description and Estimate of the Number of Small Entities to Which Rules Will Apply 61. The RFA directs agencies to provide a description of, and, where feasible, an estimate of, the number of small entities that may be affected by the rules adopted herein. The RFA
generally defines the term small entity as having the same meaning as the terms small business, small organization, and small governmental jurisdiction. In addition, the term small business has the same meaning as the term small business concern under the Small Business Act. Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 6013, the statutory definition of a small business applies unless an agency, after consultation with the Office of Advocacy of the Small Business Administration and after opportunity for public comment, establishes one or more definitions of such term which are appropriate to the activities of the agency and publishes such definitions in the Federal Register. A small business concern is one which: 1 Is independently owned and operated; 2 is not dominant in its field of operation; and 3 satisfies any additional criteria established by the Small Business Administration SBA.
62. Small Businesses. Nationwide, there are a total of approximately 27.9
million small businesses, according to the SBA.
63. Wired Telecommunications Carriers. The U.S. Census Bureau defines this industry as establishments primarily engaged in operating and/or providing access to transmission facilities and infrastructure that they own and/or lease for the transmission of voice, data, text, sound, and video using wired communications networks.
Transmission facilities may be based on a single technology or a combination of technologies. Establishments in this industry use the wired telecommunications network facilities that they operate to provide a variety of services, such as wired telephony services, including VoIP services, wired cable audio and video programming distribution, and wired broadband internet services. By exception, establishments providing satellite television distribution services using facilities and infrastructure that they operate are included in this industry.

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The SBA has developed a small business size standard for Wired Telecommunications Carriers, which consists of all such companies having 1,500 or fewer employees. U.S. Census Bureau data for 2012 show that there were 3,117 firms that operated that year.
Of this total, 3,083 operated with fewer than 1,000 employees. The available U.S. Census Bureau data does not provide a more precise estimate of the number of firms that meet the SBA size standard. Thus, under this size standard, the majority of firms in this industry can be considered small.
64. Local Exchange Carriers LECs.
Neither the Commission nor the SBA
has developed a size standard for small businesses specifically applicable to local exchange services. The closest applicable NAICS Code category is Wired Telecommunications Carriers.
Under the applicable SBA size standard, such a business is small if it has 1,500
or fewer employees. U.S. Census Bureau data for 2012 show that there were 3,117
firms that operated for the entire year.
Of that total, 3,083 operated with fewer than 1,000 employees. Thus under this category and the associated size standard, the Commission estimates that the majority of local exchange carriers are small entities.
65. Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers incumbent LECs. Neither the Commission nor the SBA has developed a small business size standard specifically for incumbent local exchange services. The closest applicable NAICS Code category is Wired Telecommunications Carriers.
Under the applicable SBA size standard, such a business is small if it has 1,500
or fewer employees. U.S. Census Bureau data for 2012 indicate that 3,117 firms operated the entire year. Of this total, 3,083 operated with fewer than 1,000
employees. The available U.S. Census Bureau data does not provide a more precise estimate of the number of firms that meet the SBA size standard.
Consequently, the Commission estimates that most providers of incumbent local exchange service are small businesses that may be affected by its actions. According to Commission data, one thousand three hundred and seven 1,307 Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers reported that they were incumbent local exchange service providers. Of this total, an estimated 1,006 have 1,500 or fewer employees.
Thus, using the SBAs size standard the majority of incumbent LECs can be considered small entities.
66. The Commission has included small incumbent LECs in this present RFA analysis. As noted above, a small business under the RFA is one that,
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inter alia, meets the pertinent small business size standard e.g., a telephone communications business having 1,500
or fewer employees, and is not dominant in its field of operation. The SBAs Office of Advocacy contends that, for RFA purposes, small incumbent LECs are not dominant in their field of operation because any such dominance is not national in scope. The Small Business Act contains a definition of small business concern, which the RFA incorporates into its own definition of small business. See 15 U.S.C.
632a; see also 5 U.S.C. 6012. SBA
regulations interpret small business concern to include the concept of dominance on a national basis. See 13
CFR 121.102b. The Commission has therefore included small incumbent LECs in this RFA analysis, although it emphasizes that this RFA action has no effect on Commission analyses and determinations in other, non-RFA
contexts.
67. Competitive Local Exchange Carriers Competitive LECs, Competitive Access Providers CAPs, Shared-Tenant Service Providers, and Other Local Service Providers. Neither the Commission nor the SBA has developed a small business size standard specifically for these service providers. The appropriate NAICS Code category is Wired Telecommunications Carriers and under that size standard, such a business is small if it has 1,500
or fewer employees. U.S. Census Bureau data for 2012 indicate that 3,117 firms operated during that year. Of that number, 3,083 operated with fewer than 1,000 employees. The available U.S.
Census Bureau data does not provide a more precise estimate of the number of firms that meet the SBA size standard.
Based on these data, the Commission concludes that the majority of Competitive LECS, CAPs, SharedTenant Service Providers, and Other Local Service Providers, are small entities. According to Commission data, 1,442 carriers reported that they were engaged in the provision of either competitive local exchange services or competitive access provider services. Of these 1,442 carriers, an estimated 1,256
have 1,500 or fewer employees. In addition, 17 carriers have reported that they are Shared-Tenant Service Providers, and all 17 are estimated to have 1,500 or fewer employees. Also, 72
carriers have reported that they are Other Local Service Providers. Of this total, 70 have 1,500 or fewer employees.
Consequently, based on internally researched FCC data, the Commission estimates that most providers of competitive local exchange service,
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