[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 225 (Wednesday, November 22, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57868-57869]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-28468]



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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

Public Information Collection Requirement Submitted to OMB for 
Review

November 13, 1995.

SUMMARY: The Federal Communications Commission, as part of its 
continuing effort to reduce paperwork burden invites the general public 
and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on the 
following information collections, as required by the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1980, (44 U.S.C. 3507). Comments concerning the 
Commission's need for this information, the accuracy of the provided 
burden estimates, and any suggested methods for minimizing respondent 
burden, including the use of automated information techniques, are 
requested. The Commission has requested an emergency OMB review of the 
Form 1240 with an approval by December 8, 1995.

DATES: Persons wishing to comment on this information collection should 
submit comments on or before December 8, 1995.

ADDRESS: Direct all comments to Timothy Fain, Office of Management and 
Budget, Room 10236 NEOB, Washington, DC 20503, (202) 395-3561 or via 
internet at [email protected], and Dorothy Conway, Federal 
Communications, Room 234, 1919 M St., NW., Washington, DC 20554 or via 
internet to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information or copies 
of the information collections contact Dorothy Conway at 202-418-0217 
or via internet at [email protected]. Copies may also be obtained via fax 
by contacting the Commission's Fax on Demand System. To obtain fax 
copies call 202-418-0177 from the handset on your fax machine, and 
enter the document retrieval number indicated below, when prompted.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On September 22, 1995, the Commission 
released a Thirteenth Order on Reconsideration (``Benchmark Cleanup 
Order''), FCC 95-397, MM Docket No. 92-266, Implementation of Sections 
of the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 
1992. In the ``Benchmark Cleanup Order'', the Commission adopts a new 
optional rate adjustment methodology where cable operators will be 
permitted to make annual rate changes to their BSTs and CPSTs. 
Operators that elect to use this new methodology will adjust their 
rates once per year to reflect reasonably certain and reasonably 
quantifiable changes in external costs, inflation, and the number of 
regulated channels that are projected for the 12 months following the 
rate change. Because operators will be permitted to estimate cost 
changes that will occur in the 12 months following the rate filing, we 
expect that this methodology will limit delays in recovering costs that 
operators may experience under the current system. Any incurred cost 
that is underestimated or overestimated may be accrued with interest 
and added to rates at a later time. If actual and projected costs are 
different during the rate year, a ``true up'' mechanism is available to 
correct estimated costs with actual cost changes. The ``true up'' 
requires 

[[Page 57869]]
operators to decrease their rates or alternatively, permits them to 
increase their rates to make adjustments for over- or under- 
estimations of these cost changes. Operators would not lose the right 
to make a rate increase at a later date if they choose not to implement 
a rate adjustment at the beginning of the next rate year. Finally, in 
order that operators not feel compelled to make rate filings or 
increase rates when they otherwise would not, we will eliminate the 
``use or lose'' requirement for operators that elect this methodology.

Filing Instructions for the Form 1240

    If this is your first time filing Form 1240 (assuming your 
franchise area is already subject to regulation), and if your most 
recent Form 1210 does not incorporate changes through June 30, 1995, 
there are two circumstances under which you must file a Form 1210 which 
records the changes in your system's costs which have occurred between 
the last Form 1210 and June 30, 1995. The first is if you moved any 
channels between regulated tiers in this time period. The second is if 
you have added channels to your regulated tier(s) during this time 
period and you wish to claim Caps Method or Markup Method adjustments 
for these channels. Any Form 1210 you file to meet these two conditions 
should not be treated as a separate filing, but rather as an attachment 
to your Form 1240. If your most recent Form 1210 does incorporate 
changes through June 30, 1995, you do not have to perform this first 
step.

    If this is your first time filing Form 1240 and you have never been 
subject to CPST regulation, in order to meet your burden of showing 
that your CPST rate is not unreasonable, you may have to provide 
details about your previous increases.

    If your local franchising authority becomes certified to regulate 
the basic service tier (``BST'', see the General Instructions section 
for a full definition), you are required to follow the Commission's 
existing rules and file a Form 1200, a Form 1205, and a Form 1210. Once 
those have been filed, you may switch to the annual filing system.

    The Commission's rules recognize seven categories of external 
costs: retransmission consent fees, copyright fees, programming costs, 
certain cable specific taxes, franchise-related costs, franchise fees 
and Commission regulatory fees. You may adjust your maximum permitted 
rate for changes in these categories of costs except for franchise 
fees, which are not included in your permitted rates but rather are 
simply added to them.

    Form 1240 must be filed with your local franchising authority at 
least 90 days before you plan to implement a change in your basic rates 
if your local franchising authority is certified to regulate basic 
rates. You must notify your local franchising authority of the annual 
filing date prior to filing Form 1240.

    If the Commission found your cable programming service rates to be 
unreasonable less than one year ago, or if a complaint about a CPST 
rate is pending before the Commission, and you now wish to increase 
your CPST rates, you must submit FCC Form 1240 to the Commission at 
least 30 days before raising your rates.

    The Commission's mailing address for Form 1240 filings is: Federal 
Communications Commission, Form 1240, P.O. Box 18658, Washington, DC 
20036.

OMB Approval Number: New Collection.
    Title: Annual Updating of Maximum Permitted Rates for Regulated 
Cable Services.
    Form No.: FCC Form 1240.
    Type of Review: New Collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit; State, Local or Tribal 
Governments.
    Number of Respondents: 5,850.
    Estimated Time Per Response: 15 hours.
    Total Annual Burden: 116,438 hours.
    Needs and Uses: The Commission has created the FCC Form 1240 Annual 
Updating of Maximum Permitted Rates for Regulated Cable Services as a 
filing alternative to the FCC Form 1210, which is filed quarterly. The 
Form 1240, like the Form 1210, is filed by cable operators seeking to 
adjust maximum permitted rates for regulated services to reflect 
changes in external costs. Cable operators will submit the Form 1240 to 
their respective local franchising authorities upon certification to 
regulate basic service tier rates and associated equipment; or with the 
Commission (in situations where the Commission has assumed 
jurisdiction). The Form 1240 will also be filed with the Commission 
when responding to a complaint filed with the Commission about cable 
programming service rates and associated equipment. The data will be 
used by the Commission and local franchising authorities to adjudicate 
permitted rates for regulated cable services and equipment, for the 
addition of new programming tiers and to account for the addition and 
deletion of channels and the allowance for pass throughs of external 
costs and costs due to inflation.

    Fax Document Retrieval Number: 601240.

Federal Communications Commission.
William F. Caton,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 95-28468 Filed 11-21-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-F