[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 154 (Wednesday, August 9, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48705-48709]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-20103]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION


Public Information Collections Approved by Office of Management 
and Budget

July 31, 2000.
    The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has received Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB)

[[Page 48706]]

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.: 3060-0748.
    Expiration Date: 07/31/2003.
    Title: Disclosure Requirements for Information Services Provided 
Through Toll-Free Numbers, 47 CFR Section 64.1504.
    Form No.: N/A.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 3,750 respondents; 2.66 hours per response 
(avg.).; 10,500 total annual burden hours.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: $0.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion; Third Party Disclosure.
    Description: Section 228 of the Communications Act of 1934, as 
amended, establishes federal requirements governing common carriers' 
transmission of and billing and collection for interstate pay-per-call 
and other information services. 47 CFR Section 64.1504 imposes 
disclosure requirements on entities that use toll-free numbers to 
provide information services. Common carriers must prohibit the use of 
toll-free numbers in a manner that would result in the calling party 
being charged for information conveyed during the call, unless the 
calling party: (1) Has executed a written agreement that specifies the 
material terms and conditions under which the information is provided 
or (2) pays for the information by means of a credit, prepaid, debit, 
charge, or calling card and the information service provider includes 
in response to each call an introductory message disclosing specified 
information detailing the cost and other terms and conditions for the 
service. The requirements are intended to ensure that callers to toll-
free numbers are: (1) Informed if charges will be levied and (2) 
receive the information necessary to make an informed decision whether 
to purchase an information service. Obligation to respond: Mandatory.

    OMB Control No.: 3060-0749.
    Expiration Date: 07/31/2003.
    Title: 47 CFR Section 64.1509--Disclosure and Dissemination of Pay-
Per Call Information.
    Form No.: N/A.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 25 respondents; 410 hours per response 
(avg.).; 10,250 total annual burden hours.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: $0.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion; Third Party Disclosure.
    Description: Section 228 of the Communications Act of 1934, as 
amended, establishes federal requirements governing common carriers' 
transmission and billing and collection of interstate pay-per-call and 
other information services. 47 CFR Section 64.1509 imposes requirements 
on common carriers that assign telephone numbers to pay-per-call 
services. Common carriers that assign telephone numbers to pay-per-call 
services must disclose to all interested parties, upon request, a list 
of all assigned pay-per-call numbers. For each assigned number, 
carriers must also make available: (1) A description of the pay-per-
call service; (2) the total cost per minute or other fees associated 
with the service; and (3) the service provider's name, business 
address, and telephone number. Carriers handling pay-per-call services 
must establish a toll-free number that consumers may call to receive 
information about pay-per-call services. The Commission requires 
carriers to provide statements of pay-per call rights and 
responsibilities to new telephone subscribers at the time service is 
established and to all subscribers annually. The requirements are 
intended to ensure that consumers understand their rights and 
responsibilities with respect to these services. Obligation to respond: 
Mandatory.

    OMB Control No.: 3060-0752.
    Expiration Date: 07/31/2003.
    Title: Billing Disclosure Requirements for Pay-Per-Call and Other 
Information Services, 47 CFR Section 64.1510.
    Form No.: N/A.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 1,350 respondents; 40 hours per response 
(avg.).; 54,000 total annual burden hours.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: $0.
    Frequency of Response: Annually; Third Party Disclosure.
    Description: Section 228 of the Communications Act of 1934, as 
amended, establishes federal requirements governing common carrier's 
transmission and billing and collection of interstate pay-per-call and 
other information services. Under 47 CFR Section 64.1510, telephone 
bills containing charges for interstate pay-per-call and other 
information services must include information detailing consumers' 
rights and responsibilities with respect to these charges. Telephone 
bills carrying pay-per-call charges must include a consumer 
notification stating that: (1) The charges are for non-communication 
services; (2) local and long distance telephone services may not be 
disconnected for failure to pay-per-call charges; (3) pay-per-call (900 
number) blocking is available upon request and (4) access to pay-per-
call services may be involuntarily blocked for failure to pay-per-call 
services. In addition, each call billed must show the type of service, 
the amount of the charges, and the date, time and duration of the call. 
The bill must display a toll-free number which subscribers may call to 
obtain information about pay-per-call services. Similar billing 
disclosure requirements apply to charges for information services 
either billed to subscribers on a collect basis or accessed by 
subscribers through a toll-free number. The requirements are intended 
to ensure that telephone subscribers billed for pay-per-call or other 
information services are able to understand the charges levied and are 
informed of their rights and responsibilities with respect to payment 
of such charges. Obligation to respond: Mandatory.

    OMB Control No.: 3060-0810.
    Expiration Date: 01/31/2001.
    Title: Procedures for Designation of Eligible Telecommunications 
Carriers Pursuant to Section 214(e)(6) of the Communications Act of 
1934, as amended.
    Form No.: N/A.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 120 respondents; 51.66 hours per response 
(avg.); 6,200 total annual burden hours.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: $0.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion; Third Party Disclosure.
    Description: 47 U.S.C. Section 214(e)(6) states that a 
telecommunications carrier that is not subject to the jurisdiction of a 
state may request that the Commission determine whether it is eligible. 
The Commission must evaluate whether telecommunications carriers 
requesting such designation pursuant to the Commission's procedures 
meet the eligibility criteria set forth in the Act.

[[Page 48707]]

Carriers seeking designation from the Commission pursuant to section 
214(e)(6) must demonstrate that they fulfill the requirements of 
section 214(e)(1). To do so, carriers seeking designation from the 
Commission must provide a petition containing the information specified 
in the Commission's ``Procedures for FCC Designation of Eligible 
Telecommunications Carriers Pursuant to Section 214(e)(6).'' In 
addition, under the Commission's recent Unserved Areas Order, CC Docket 
No. 96-45, released June 30, 2000, carriers seeking designation for 
service provided on non-tribal lands must provide an affirmative 
statement from a court of competent jurisdiction or the state 
commission that the state lacks jurisdiction over the carrier. A 
carrier seeking a designation of eligibility to receive federal 
universal service support for telecommunications service provided on 
tribal lands may petition the Commission for designation under section 
214(e)(6), without first seeking designation from the appropriate state 
commission. The petitioner must set forth in its petition the basis for 
its assertion that it is not subject to the state commission's 
jurisdiction, and bears the burden of proving that assertion. The 
petitioner must provide copies of its petition to the appropriate state 
commission at the time of filing with the Commission. Carriers seeking 
an eligibility designation from this Commission for the provision of 
service on tribal lands should provide fact-specific support 
demonstrating that the carrier is not subject to the state commission's 
jurisdiction for the provision of service on tribal lands. Such support 
should include any relevant case law, statutes, and treaties. 
Petitioners seeking an eligibility designation under section 214(e)(6) 
for service provided on tribal lands must accurately describe the 
specific geographic areas they wish to service, and must demonstrate 
that such areas satisfy the definition of tribal lands. The Commission 
will use the information collected to determine whether the 
telecommunications carriers providing the data are eligible to receive 
universal service support. Obligation to respond: Mandatory.

    OMB Control No.: 3060-0774.
    Expiration Date: 01/31/2001.
    Title: Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service, CC Docket 
No. 96-45 (47 CFR 54).
    Form No.: N/A.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 5,735,638 respondents; .34 hours per 
response (avg.); 1,984,119 total annual burden hours.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: $0.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion; Quarterly; Annually; 
Recordkeeping; Third Party Disclosure.
    Description: Congress directed the Commission to implement a new 
set of universal service support mechanisms that are explicit and 
sufficient to advance the universal service principles enumerated in 47 
U.S.C. Section 254 and other such principles as the Commission believes 
are necessary and appropriate for the protection of the public 
interest, convenience and necessity, and are consistent with the Act. 
Part 54 promulgates the rules and requirements to preserve and advance 
universal service. In the Unserved Areas Order, CC Docket No. 96-45, 
released June 30, 2000, the Commission amended its universal service 
rules and provided additional, targeted support under the Commission's 
low-income programs to create financial incentives for eligible 
telecommunications carriers to serve, and deploy telecommunications 
facilities, in areas that previously may have been regarded as high 
risk and unprofitable. (a) Projected Requirements for Low-Income 
Universal Service to be Filed No Later Than September 1, 2000 and 
Certifications Required by 47 CFR 54.403--The Commission has decided to 
give carriers the option of providing additional information about 
their projected requirements for low-income universal service support 
prior to the deadline for implementation of the Commission's 
enhancements to low-income support for tribal lands. Such additional 
information would supplement the information carriers already provided 
periodically about the amount of revenues they have foregone in the 
provision of service to qualifying low-income consumers, under 47 CFR 
sections 54.407(c) and 54.413(b). Prior to the rules adopted in the 
Unserved Areas Order, carriers could only obtain second-tier Lifeline 
support if they first obtained state approval of a corresponding rate 
reduction. Carriers could also only obtain third-tier support if state 
matching funds were provided. These requirements protected the ability 
of states to monitor and regulate the intrastate rates of Lifeline 
customers, and the incentive for states and carriers to provide local 
funds towards the advancement and preservation of universal service. In 
order to reduce burdensome administrative requirements on carriers not 
subject to state rate regulation while preserving the goals served by 
the current requirements of state approval for second-tier support and 
state matching funds for third-tier support, the Commission has removed 
the existing requirements for the receipt of second and third-tier 
Lifeline support, and substituted a certification by carriers that they 
pass through the full amount of any second, third, or fourth tier 
support they receive to qualifying low income subscribers, and that 
they have secured any non-federal regulatory approvals necessary to 
implement the required rate reduction. (No. of respondents: 2,414; 
hours per response: 8 hours; total annual burden: 19,312). (b) 
Certifications and Notifications of Low-Income Consumers Living on 
Tribal Lands, 47 CFR Sections 54.409(c) and 54.415. In order to allow 
low-income support to reach low-income consumers living on tribal lands 
in states that do not provide state universal service support for low-
income consumers, carriers must now obtain certifications from low-
income consumers of their receipt of benefits from a broader list of 
federal assistance programs, including assistance programs in which 
members of trial communities are more likely to be participants. (No. 
of respondents: 170,187; hours per response: 20 minutes; total annual 
burden: 56,729 hours). (c) Lifeline Plans to Carriers Not Subject to 
State Jurisdiction, 47 CFR 54.401(d)--In order to enable carriers not 
subject to state jurisdiction, including carriers serving tribal 
communities, to file lifeline plans with the Administrator, under the 
rule changes adopted in the Unserved Areas Order, eligible 
telecommunications carriers not subject to state commission 
jurisdiction are also required to submit Lifeline plans to the 
Administrator. This will enhance the Administrator's abilities to 
oversee the receipt of Lifeline support by low-income consumers served 
by carriers not subject to state commission jurisdiction. (No. of 
respondents: 100; hours per response: 1 hour; total annual burden: 100 
hours). (d) Carrier Publicizing of Lifeline and Link Up Services, 47 
CFR Sections 54.405 and 54.411--The Unserved Areas Order implements the 
requirement in section 214(e)(1)(B) that eligible telecommunications 
carriers advertise the availability of supported services by requiring 
carriers to publicize the availability of Lifeline and Link Up services 
in a manner reasonably designed to reach those likely to qualify for 
those services. (No. of respondents: 2,414; hours per response: 50 
hours; total annual burden:

[[Page 48708]]

120,700 hours). Obligation to respond: Mandatory.
    OMB Control No.: 3060-0233.
    Expiration Date: 07/31/2003.
    Title: Part 36--Separations.
    Form No.: N/A.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit; State, Local or Tribal 
Government.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 5,600 respondents; 28.05 hours per 
response (avg.); 157,125 total annual burden hours.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: $0.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion; Quarterly; Annually; Third 
Party Disclosure.
    Description: In the Communications Act of 1934, as amended by the 
Telecommunications Act of 1996 (1996 Act), Congress codified the 
Commission's historical policy of promoting universal service to ensure 
that consumers in all regions of the nation have access to 
telecommunications services. Specifically, in section 254 of the Act, 
Congress instructed the Commission, after consultation with the 
Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service (Joint Board), to 
establish specific, predictable, and sufficient mechanisms to preserve 
and advance universal service. Based on the recommendations from the 
Joint Board in the Second Recommended Decision, and building on the 
framework the Commission set forth in the First Report and Order and 
the Seventh Report and Order, the Commission established in an Order 
adopted on October 21, 1999, a new federal high cost support mechanism 
that will be sufficient to enable non-rural carriers' rates for service 
supported by universal service to remain affordable and reasonably 
comparable in all regions of the nation. (a) 47 CFR Sections 36.611 and 
36.612--In order to allow determination of the study areas that are 
entitled to an expense adjustment, and the wire centers that are 
entitled to support pursuant to 47 CFR Part 54, each incumbent local 
exchange carrier (LEC) must provide the National Exchange Carrier 
Association (NECA) with the information required by Section 36.611 for 
each of its study areas, with the exception of the information listed 
in subsection (h), which must be provided for each study area and, if 
applicable, for each wire center as that term is defined in 47 CFR Part 
54. This information is to be filed with NECA by July 31st of each 
year, and must be updated pursuant to section 36.612. The information 
filed on July 31st of each year will be used in the jurisdictional 
allocations underlying the cost support data for the access charge 
tariffs to be filed the following October. An incumbent LEC is defined 
as a carrier that meets the definition of an ``incumbent local exchange 
carrier'' in section 51.5. See 47 Sections 36.611 and 36.612. In the 
Ninth Report and Order and Eighteenth Order on Reconsideration issued 
in CC Docket 96-45, the Commission adopted several amendments to the 
data reporting requirements to ensure that cost and loop count data 
submitted by non-rural carriers under Part 36 will conform with loop 
count data submitted under our Part 54 rules for forwarding looking 
support. To ensure that forward-looking support provided under Part 54 
and interim hold-harmless support provided under Part 36 are based on 
data from the same reporting periods, and to ensure equitable, non-
discriminatory, and competitively neutral treatment of incumbent LECs 
and competitive eligible telecommunications carriers, the Commission 
requires mandatory quarterly reporting for non-rural carriers under 
both Part 54 and Part 36 of its rules. See 47 CFR 36.612. (Quarterly 
filing remains voluntary for rural carriers). By allowing incumbent 
LECs and competitive eligible telecommunications carriers to obtain 
support for high-cost lines on a regular quarterly basis, our rules 
will facilitate portability of support among carriers. In addition, the 
quarterly filing requirement is consistent with USAC's quarterly 
submission of program demand projections, and should allow more 
accurate projections based on regular quarterly loop counts. Because 
the interim hold-harmless provision provides support based on the 
existing Part 36 support mechanism, which relies on book costs, non-
rural incumbent LECS will be required to file cost data, in addition to 
loop-count data, in order to receive interim hold-harmless support. 
(No. of respondents: 1,431; hours per response: 22 hours; total annual 
burden: 125,928). (b) 47 CFR Sections 36.701-36.741--The Commission 
adopted the Joint Board's recommendations to implement federal lifeline 
programs designed to preserve universal telephone service. See 47 CFR 
Sections 36.701-36.741. State or local carriers must submit copies of 
their lifeline plans to demonstrate that their plans meet certain 
minimum federal guidelines to qualify for federal assistance. Section 
36.721 requires state or local telephone companies who want to 
participate in the ``Link-Up America'' program to file data with the 
Commission demonstrating eligibility pursuant to the criteria contained 
in Section 36.721(a)(1)-(4) of the Commission's rules. Federal 
assistance will be provided to supplement the benefits provided under 
state or local telephone companies lifeline plans for qualified low 
income households to help defray the one time charges for commencement 
of telephone service. This program would offset one-half of the charges 
for commencing telephone service, up to $30 for qualifying households. 
This program also encourages local exchange carriers to offer deferred 
payment schedules for charges for commencement of telephone service by 
paying an LECs interest costs. (No. of respondents: 50; hours per 
response: 20 hours; total annual burden: 1,000 hours). (c) 47 CFR 
Section 36.731--This section requires local telephone companies 
participating in the lifeline programs to file information with NECA 
for each of their study areas, on a yearly basis, on June 30th. 
Information to be filed with NECA includes: estimate of the number of 
eligible households which will receive assistance under both parts of 
the ``Link-Up America'' programs; estimate of the average discount on 
service commencement to be provided to each subscriber; and estimate of 
the average deferred interest cost for each subscriber. Carriers must 
submit the foregoing information to the Commission, as well as to NECA 
for those study areas in which the additional interstate expense 
allocation is to be in effect for less than a full calendar year. See 
also 47 CFR Section 36.741. (No. of respondents: 1500; hours per 
response: 20 hours; total annual burden: 30,000 hours). (d) Proposal--
In a NPRM issued in CC Docket No. 80-286, released 10/7/97, the 
Commission sought comment on a proposed rule allowing incumbent LECs to 
separate joint and common costs on an individual basis should be 
contingent on an ILECs showing that competition exists in the local 
markets for which they seek relaxed separations rules. (The Commission 
has not issued an order in this proceeding). (No. of respondents: 100; 
hours per response: 2; total annual burden: 200 hours). The 
requirements are necessary to implement the congressional mandate for 
universal service. The reporting requirements are necessary to verify 
that non-rural local exchange carriers are eligible to receive 
universal service support. Information filed with NECA pursuant to 
Section 36.611 is used in the jurisdictional allocations underlying the 
cost support data for the access charge tariffs every April. Without 
this information, NECA would not be able to prepare and file the

[[Page 48709]]

necessary tariffs. Information submitted to the Commission pursuant to 
Section 36.721 is required to maintain the integrity of the Federal 
Lifeline Assistance Programs. Certification is necessary to ensure that 
the targeted group is the beneficiary of the program. The authorities 
for imposing the collections of information are found at: 47 U.S.C. 
151, 154(i) and (j), 221(c) and 410(c). Obligation to respond: Required 
to obtain or retain benefits.
    Public reporting burden for the collection 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, DC 20554.

Federal Communications Commission.
Magalie Roman Salas,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 00-20103 Filed 8-8-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-U