[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 49 (Friday, March 13, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12468-12471]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-6424]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION


Notice of Public Information Collections Being Reviewed by the 
Federal Communications Commission

March 9, 1998.
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 1995, Public Law 104-13. An agency may not conduct or 
sponsor a collection of information unless it displays a currently 
valid control number. No person shall be subject to any penalty for 
failing to comply with a collection of information subject to the

[[Page 12469]]

Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) that does not display a valid control 
number. Comments are requested concerning: (a) Whether the proposed 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
the functions of the Commission, including whether the information 
shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Commission's 
burden estimate; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, clarity of 
the information collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the 
collection of information on the respondents, including the use of 
automated information techniques or other forms of information 
technology.

DATES: Written comments should be submitted on or before May 12, 1998. 
If you anticipate that you will be submitting comments, but find it 
difficult to do so within the period of time allowed by this notice, 
you should advise the contact listed below as soon as possible.

ADDRESSES: Direct all comments to Judy Boley, Federal Communications 
Commission, Room 234, 1919 M St., N.W., Washington, DC 20554 or via 
internet to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information or copies 
of the information collections contact Judy Boley at 202-418-0214 or 
via internet at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    OMB Approval No.: 3060-0736.
    Title: Implementation of the Non-Accounting Safeguards of Sections 
271 and 272 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, CC Docket 
No. 96-149.
    Form No.: N/A.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for profit.
    Number of Respondents: 5.
    Estimated Time Per Response: 60.6 hours per response (avg.).
    Frequency of Response: On occasion reporting requirement.
    Total Annual Burden: 303 hours.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: $0.
    Needs and Uses: Section 272 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 
requires that BOCs make information available to third parties if it 
makes that information available to its section 272(a) affiliates. In 
an Order released February 6, 1998, the Commission's Common Carrier 
Bureau resolved questions regarding the application of sections 10 and 
272 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, (Act) to the 
provision of E911 services by the Bell Operating Companies (BOCs). Bell 
Operating Companies, Petitions for Forbearance from the Application of 
Section 272 of the Communications Act of 1934, As Amended, to Certain 
Activities, CC Docket No. 96-149, DA 98-220, Memorandum Opinion and 
Order (Com. Car. Bur. Feb. 6, 1998) (February 6 Order). E911 services 
enable emergency service personnel to identify the location of the 
party calling 911, and are essential to the safety of many Americans. 
In the February 6 Order, the Bureau determined that the BOCs' E911 
services are interLATA information services. One consequence of this 
determination was that each BOC had an obligation under section 
272(a)(2)(C) of the Act to provide E911 services only through a 
separate affiliate. In the February 6 Order, the Bureau forbore from 
the application of this separate affiliate requirement pursuant to the 
forbearance authority in section 10 of the Act, thus permitting the 
BOCs to provide E911 services on an integrated basis. The Bureau 
determined that requiring the BOCs to provide E911 services only 
through separate affiliates would have increased the cost, but not the 
quality, of those services. In the February 6 Order, the Bureau 
maintained the substance of the statutory nondiscrimination requirement 
by requiring each BOC to provide unaffiliated entities with all listing 
information, including unlisted and unpublished numbers as well as the 
numbers of other local exchange carriers' customers, that the BOC uses 
to provide E911 services, even though that Order was permitting the 
BOCs to provide those services on an integrated basis. The Bureau 
required that this listing information be provided at the same rates, 
terms, and conditions, if any, the BOC charges or imposes on its own 
E911 services. The BOCs are already required to account for their E911 
services on the books of account that they maintain in accordance with 
Part 32 of the Commissions rules. The Commission requires that the BOCs 
treat their E911 serves as nonregulated activities for federal 
accounting purposes to the extent they involve storage and retrieval 
functions included within the statutory definition of information 
service. The BOCs shall record any charges they impute for their E911 
services in their revenue accounts. The BOCs shall account for any 
imputed charges by debiting their nonregulated operating revenue 
accounts and crediting their regulated revenue accounts by the amounts 
of the imputed charges. The BOCs shall make any changes to their cost 
allocation manuals necessary to reflect this account. The BOCs' 
independent auditors shall include this accounting in their review of 
the BOCs compliance with their cost allocation manuals. The 
requirements will be used to ensure that BOCs comply with the 
nondiscrimination requirements under the 1996 Act.
    OMB Approval No.: 3060-0785.
    Title: Changes to the Board of Directors of the National Exchange 
Carrier Association and the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal 
Service, CC docket Nos. 97-21 and 96-45.
    Form No.: FCC Form 457.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for profit.
    Number of Respondents: 5,000.
    Estimated Time Per Response: 11.13 hours per response (avg.).
    Frequency of Response: On occasion reporting requirement.
    Total Annual Burden: 55,650 hours.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: 
$4,903,000.
    Needs and Uses: The Telecommunications Act of 1996 directed the 
Commission to initiate a rulemaking to reform our system of universal 
service so that universal service is preserved and advanced as markets 
move toward competition. On May 8, 1997, the Commission released the 
Report and Order on Universal Service (Universal Service Order) in CC 
Docket 96-45 that established new federal universal service support 
mechanisms consistent with the universal service provisions of section 
254. In the Fourth Order on Reconsideration in CC Docket No. 96-45, 
Report and Order in CC Docket Nos. 96-45, 96-262, 94-1, 91-213, 95-72 
(adopted December 30, 1997, released December 30, 1997), the Commission 
reconsidered certain aspects of the Universal Service Order and 
exempted additional entities from universal service contribution and 
reporting requirements. Broadcasters and schools, colleges, 
universities, rural health care providers, and systems integrators that 
derive de minimis amounts of revenue from the resale of 
telecommunications will not be required to contribute to universal 
service. Entities whose annual contribution would be less than $10,000 
will not be required to contribute to universal service or comply with 
universal service reporting requirements. Contributors exempt from 
filing and contributing because of de minimis revenues must complete 
and retain the FCC 457 worksheet and make it available to the 
Commission or to the Universal Service Administrator upon request. 
Underlying carriers should

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include revenues derived from providing telecommunications to entities 
qualifying for the de minimis exemption in line 34-47, where 
appropriate of their Universal Service Worksheet. The Universal Service 
Worksheet, FCC Form 457 was revised to make it consistent with recent 
actions taken by the Commission in the universal service proceeding. 
The information will be used by the Commission and the Administrator or 
Temporary Administrator to calculate contributions to the universal 
service support mechanisms.
    OMB Approval No.: 3060-0536.
    Title: Rules and Requirements for Telecommunications Relay Services 
(TRS) Interstate Cost Recovery.
    Form No.: FCC Form 431.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for profit.
    Number of Respondents: 5,000.
    Estimated Time Per Response: 3.11 hours per response (avg.).
    Frequency of Response: On occasion reporting requirement.
    Total Annual Burden: 15,593 hours.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: $0.
    Needs and Uses: Title IV of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 
Public Law 101-336, Section 401, 104 Stat. 327, 366-69 (codified at 47 
U.S.C. Section 225) requires the Federal Communications Commission to 
ensure that telecommunications relay services are available to persons 
with hearing and speech disabilities in the United States. Among other 
things, the Commission is required by 47 U.S.C. 225(d)(3) to enact and 
oversee a shared-funding mechanism (TRS Fund) for recovering the costs 
of providing interstate TRS. The Commission's regulations concerning 
the TRS Fund are codified at 47 C.F.R. 64.604(c)(4). Pursuant to these 
regulations, the National Exchange Carrier Association (NECA) has been 
appointed Administrator of the TRS Fund. The Commission's rules require 
all carriers providing interstate telecommunications services to 
contribute to the TRS Fund on an annual basis. Contributions are the 
product of the carrier's gross interstate revenues for the previous 
year and a contribution factor determined annually by the Commission. 
The collected contributions are used to compensate TRS providers for 
the costs of providing interstate TRS service. The Commission releases 
an order each year approving the contribution factor, payment rate and 
TRS Fund Worksheet for the following year. Accordingly, on December 22, 
1997, the Commission's Common Carrier Bureau, acting under delegated 
authority, released an order approving the contribution factor for the 
April 1998 through March 1999 contribution period and the 1998 TRS Fund 
Worksheet (FCC Form 431) and also making several revisions to the form. 
The data in the report will be used to ensure that carriers properly 
fund interstate TRS. All carriers providing interstate 
telecommunications service must file this worksheet. Other 
telecommunications carriers may voluntarily file this worksheet. The 
requested information is used to administer the TRS Fund. Information 
is used to calculate a national average to recover the total interstate 
TRS revenue requirements and to determine the appropriate payment due 
to the TRS providers participating in the shared-funding plan.
    OMB Approval No.: 3060-0814.
    Title: Section 54.301  Local Switching Support and Local Switching 
Support Data Collection Form and Instructions.
    Form No.: N/A.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for profit.
    Number of Respondents: 192.
    Estimated Time Per Response: 21.55 hours per response (avg.).
    Frequency of Response: On occasion reporting requirement; annually.
    Total Annual Burden: 4,138 hours.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: $0.
    Needs and Uses: The Telecommunications Act of 1996 directed the 
Commission to initiate a rulemaking to reform our system of universal 
service so that universal service is preserved and advanced as markets 
move toward competition. On May 8, 1997, the Commission released the 
Report and Order on Universal Service (Universal Service Order) in CC 
Docket 96-45 that established new federal universal service support 
mechanisms consistent with the universal service provisions of section 
254. In the Fourth Order on Reconsideration in CC Docket No. 96-45, 
Report and Order in CC Docket Nos. 96-45, 96-262, 94-1, 91-213, 95-72 
(adopted December 30, 1997, released December 30, 1997), the Commission 
reconsiders certain aspects of the Universal Service Order. Among other 
things, the Fourth Order on Reconsideration adopts a precise 
methodology for the universal service administrator to use in 
calculating the average unseparated local switching revenue 
requirement. Although this rule generally requires carriers to submit 
data on October 1 of each year, the universal service administrator 
must collect data from carriers that do not participate in the NECA 
common line pool immediately to prepare for the 1998 year. Each 
incumbent local exchange carrier that is not a member of the NECA 
Common Line tariff, that has been designated an eligible 
telecommunications carrier, and that serves a study area with 50,000 or 
fewer access lines shall, for each study area, provide the 
Administrator with the projected total unseparated dollar amount 
assigned to each account in Section 54.301(b) for 1998. Of the carriers 
that do not participate in the NECA common line pool, 20 of these 
carriers are ``average schedule'' companies as defined in Part 
69.605(c) of the Commission's rules. Each incumbent local exchange 
carrier that is not a member of the NECA Common Line tariff, that is an 
average schedule company, that has been designated an eligible 
telecommunications carrier, and that serves a study area with 50,000 or 
fewer access lines shall, for each study area, provide the 
Administrator with their total number of access lines, total number of 
central offices, and projected access minutes for 1998. These companies 
receive local switching support calculated pursuant to section 
54.301(f), whereas the remaining companies receive support calculated 
pursuant to section 54.301(b). This data request is necessary to 
calculate the average unseparated local switching revenue requirement. 
This revenue requirement calculation is necessary to calculate the 
amount of local switching support that carriers will receive. This data 
request is necessary to calculate the average unseparated local 
switching revenue requirement.
    OMB Approval No.: 3060-0819.
    Title: Lifeline Assistance (Lifeline), Lifeline Connection 
Assistance (Link Up) Reporting Worksheet and Instructions (47 CFR 
54.400-54.417).
    Form No.: FCC Form 497.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for profit.
    Number of Respondents: 1,500 respondents (18,000 responses).
    Estimated Time Per Response: 3 hours per response (avg.)
    Frequency of Response: On occasion reporting requirement; monthly; 
quarterly; semi-annually.
    Total Annual Burden: 42,000.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: $0.
    Needs and Uses: The Telecommunications Act of 1996 directed the 
Commission to initiate a

[[Page 12471]]

rulemaking to reform our system of universal service so that universal 
service is preserved and advanced as markets move toward competition. 
On May 8, 1997, the Commission released a Report and Order on Universal 
Service (Universal Service Order) in CC Docket 96-45 that established 
new federal universal service support mechanisms consistent with 
section 254. In the Universal Service Order, the Commission expanded 
and made competitively neutral its programs for low-income consumers, 
Lifeline and Link Up. On December 30, 1997, the Commission released a 
Fourth Order on Reconsideration that amended some of the Lifeline and 
Link Up rules. The following describes the universal service support 
reimbursement available to eligible telecommunications carriers for 
providing Lifeline and Link Up programs to qualifying low-income 
customers: Eligible telecommunications carriers are permitted to 
receive universal service support reimbursement for offering Lifeline 
service to qualifying low-income customers; eligible telecommunications 
carriers may receive universal service support reimbursement for the 
revenue they forego in reducing their customary charge for commencing 
telecommunications service and for providing a deferred schedule for 
payment of the charges assessed for commencing service for which the 
consumer does not pay interest, in conformity with 47 CFR 54.411; 
eligible telecommunications carriers providing toll-limitation services 
(TLS) for qualifying low-income subscribers will be compensated from 
universal service mechanisms for the incremental cost of providing 
either toll blocking or toll control; and eligible telecommunications 
carriers that serve qualifying low-income consumers who have toll 
blocking shall receive universal service support reimbursement for 
waiving the Presubscribed Interexchange Carriers Charge (PICC) for 
Lifeline customers. FCC Form 497 implements the Lifeline and Link Up 
reimbursement programs. This information is necessary in order for 
eligible telecommunications carriers to receive universal service 
support reimbursement for providing Lifeline and Link Up.

Federal Communications Commission.
Magalie Roman Salas,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 98-6424 Filed 3-12-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-10-U