[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 30 (Tuesday, February 16, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7645-7646]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-3579]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION


Public Information Collections Approved by Office of Management 
and Budget

February 4, 1999.
    The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has received Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) approval for the following public 
information collections pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995, Public Law 104-13. An agency may not conduct or sponsor and a 
person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless 
it displays a currently valid control number. For further information 
contact Shoko B. Hair, Federal Communications Commission, (202) 418-
1379.

Federal Communications Commission

    OMB Control No.: 3060-0484.
    Expiration Date: 01/31/2001.
    Title: Amendment of Part 63 of the Commission's Rules to Provide 
for Notification of Common Carriers of Service Disruptions--Section 
63.100.
    Form No.: N/A.
    Respondents: Business or other for profit.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 52 respondents (reporting approximately 4 
times a year); 5 hours per response (avg.); 1040 total annual burden 
hours.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: $0.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion.
    Description: Section 63.100 of the Commission's rules requires that 
``any local exchange or interexchange common carrier that operates 
transmission or switching facilities and provides access service or 
interstate or international telecommunications service that experiences 
an outage on any facilities which it owns or operates must notify the 
Commission if such service outage continues for 30 or more minutes. 
Satellite carriers and cellular carriers were exempt from this 
reporting requirement.'' An initial and a final report is required for 
each outage. The reports enable us to monitor developments affecting 
telecommunications reliability; to serve as a source of information for 
the public; to encourage and, where appropriate, assist in 
dissemination of information to those affected; and to take immediate 
steps, as needed, and after analyzing the information submitted, to 
determine what, if any, other action is required. The Commission's 
Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) receives the initial outage 
and incident reports through the Commission's Watch Officers to whom 
the carriers report within 120 minutes or, in the case of outages 
affecting 50,000 customers, within 3 days of the carrier's knowledge 
that the outage is reportable. If OET did not receive the information 
in the reports for analysis and further investigation, the Commission 
would have considerable difficulty determining the state of network 
reliability. It would depend on delayed, incomplete and second hand 
analysis as a basis for recommending any future Commission action that 
might be needed to encourage carriers to enhance their reliability 
efforts. It would have difficulty determining the implementation and 
efficacy of its own and industry's present and future recommendations 
for enhancing reliability. It would be less able to spot reliability 
weaknesses as they begin to appear in the rapidly changing networks. 
The reporting requirement will facilitate FCC monitoring of the 
reliability of service being provided and enable it to take swift 
remedial action as required. The reporting requirement is essential to 
the FCC's mission of ensuring that the public is protected from major 
disruptions to telephone services. Information required in the initial 
reports includes identification of the carrier and a carrier contact 
person, date and time of commencement of the outage, geographical area 
affected, estimated number of customers affected, duration of the 
outage, estimated number of blocked calls during the outage, apparent 
or known cause of the incident, including the name and type of 
equipment involved and the specific part of the network affected, 
methods used to restore service and the steps taken to prevent 
recurrence of the outage. Not later than thirty days after an outage or 
incident, the carrier must file with the Chief, Office of Engineering 
and Technology (OET) a final service disruption report providing all 
available information on the service outage, including any information 
not contained in its initial report. Information collected has been 
used by the Commission staff to determine weaknesses to reliability and 
to formulate new tasks for the Network Reliability and Interoperability 
Counsel (NRIC), a Federal Advisory Committee formed by the Commission 
to advise it on matters of network reliability. Obligation to respond: 
Mandatory.

    OMB Control No.: 3060-0876.
    Expiration Date: 06/30/99.
    Title: USAC Board of Directors Nomination Process (47 CFR 54.703) 
and Review of Administrator's Decision (47 CFR Sections 54.719-54.725).
    Form No.: N/A.
    Respondents: Business or other for profit.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 22 respondents; 25.4 hours per response 
(avg.); 560 total annual burden hours.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: $0.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion; annually; third party 
disclosure.
    Description: The Telecommunications Act of 1996 (1996 Act) 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. To fulfill that mandate, based on 
the recommendations of the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal 
Service, the Commission adopted a Report and Order in CC Docket No. 96-
45 on May 7, 1997 to implement the congressional directives set out in 
section 254 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended by the 1996 
Act. In a Report and Order (released July 18, 1997), the Commission 
appointed the National Exchange Carrier Association, Inc. (NECA) the 
temporary administrator of the universal service support mechanisms, 
subject to its creating a separate subsidiary, the Universal Service 
Administrative Company (USAC), to administer the support programs. The 
Commission also directed NECA, as a condition of its appointment as 
temporary administrator, to create two unaffiliated corporations to 
administer portions of the schools and libraries and rural health care 
programs. NECA established the Schools and Libraries Corporation (SLC) 
and the Rural Health Care Corporation (RHCC).
    In connection with supplemental appropriations legislation enacted 
on May 1, 1998, Congress directed the Commission to establish a single 
entity to administer federal universal service. In a May 8, 1998 Report 
to Congress, the Commission proposed that, by January 1, 1999, USAC 
would serve as the single entity responsible for administering all of 
the universal service support mechanisms including the schools and 
libraries and rural health care support mechanisms.

[[Page 7646]]

    On November 20, 1998, the Commission released an Order directing 
the merger of SLC and RHCC into USAC as the single entity responsible 
for administering the universal service support mechanisms as of 
January 1, 1999. The Order adopts rules that will govern USAC following 
the required merger. Certain portions of these rules contain 
collections of information. First, the Order instructs industry and 
non-industry groups to submit to the Commission for approval 
nominations for individuals to be appointed to the USAC Board of 
Directors. (No. of respondents: 12 respondents; hours per response: 20 
hours; total annual burden: 240 hours). Second, the Order adopts 
procedures for Commission review of USAC decisions, including the 
general filing requirements pursuant to which parties must file 
requests for review. An affected party would be permitted to file a 
petition for Commission review with the Bureau within thirty days of an 
action taken by USAC. The appellant must state specifically its 
interest in the matter presented for review. The appellant also must 
provide the Commission with a full statement of relevant, material 
facts with supporting affidavits and documentation. In addition, the 
appellant must state concisely the question presented for review, with 
reference, where appropriate, to the relevant Commission rule, 
Commission order, or statutory provision. The appellant also must state 
the relief sought and the relevant statutory or regulatory provision 
pursuant to which such relief is sought. If an appellant alleges 
prohibited conduct by a third party, the appellant shall serve a copy 
of the appeal on such third party, who shall have an opportunity to 
file an opposition. Similarly, appellants shall serve on USAC a copy of 
the appeal of a USAC decision filed with the Commission. See 47 CFR 
Sections 54.719-54.725. (No. of respondents: 10; hours per response: 32 
hours; total annual burden: 320 hours). The information will be used by 
the Commission to select USAC's Board of Directors and to ensure that 
requests for review are filed properly with the Commission. The 
information requested is not otherwise available. Without such 
information, the Commission could not appoint a representative body to 
USAC's Board of Directors nor resolve requests for review and, 
therefore, could not fulfill its statutory responsibility in accordance 
with the Communications Act of 1934, as amended. Obligation to respond: 
required to obtain or retain benefits.
    Public reporting burden for the collections of information is as 
noted above. Send comments regarding the burden estimate or any other 
aspect of the collections of information, including suggestions for 
reducing the burden to Performance Evaluation and Records Management, 
Washington, D.C. 20554.

Federal Communications Commission.
Magalie Roman Salas
Secretary
[FR Doc. 99-3579 Filed 2-12-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P