[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 47 (Friday, March 9, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14146-14147]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-5827]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION


Public Information Collections Approved by Office of Management 
and Budget

March 1, 2001.
    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.: 3060-0855.
    Expiration Date: 08/31/2001.
    Title: Telecommunications Reporting Worksheet and Associated 
Requirements, CC.
    Docket No. 96-45.
    Form No.: FCC Form 499-A.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 5,000 respondents; 15 minutes--9.5 hours 
per respondent; 9.7 hours per response (avg.); 48,662 total annual 
burden hours.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: $9,000.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion; Annually; Semi-annually; 
Recordkeeping; Third Party Disclosure.
    Description: The Telecommunications Act of 1996 directs the 
Commission to implement several Congressionally-mandated goals. These 
include the advancement of universal service, the administration of 
numbering, and the administration of local number portability. 
Specifically, section 251 of the Communications Act of 1934, as 
amended, requires all telecommunications carriers to bear the costs of 
numbering administration and number portability on a competitively 
neutral basis, as determined by the Commission. Similarly, section 254 
of the Act directed the Commission to initiate a rulemaking to reform 
the system of universal service so that universal service is preserved 
and advanced as markets move toward competition. In addition, section 
225 of the Communications Act of 1934 requires the Commission to 
provide for telecommunications relay services. Pursuant to the 
Communications Act of 1934, as amended, telecommunications carriers 
(and certain other providers of telecommunications services) must 
contribute to the support and cost recovery mechanisms for 
telecommunications relay services, numbering administration, number 
portability, and universal service. Contributors to the federal 
universal service support mechanisms, the TRS fund, the cost recovery 
mechanism for numbering administration, and the cost recovery mechanism 
for the shared costs of local number portability must file the revised 
Telecommunications Reporting Worksheet, FCC Form 499-A (April 2001 
Worksheet). All of these entities must complete and file the April 2001 
Worksheet on or before April 2, 2001. Data filed on the April 2001 
Worksheet will be used to calculate contributions to the universal 
service support mechanisms, as well as the TRS fund, the cost recovery 
for numbering administration, and the cost recovery for the shared 
costs of local number portability. Information filed on the April 2001 
Worksheet will also be used to satisfy the Commission's recently 
adopted registration requirement for new and existing carrier providing 
interstate telecommunications service pursuant to 47 CFR section 
64.1195. In CC Docket No. 94-129, (FCC 00-255) released August 15, 
2000, the Commission concluded that all new or and existing common 
carriers providing interstate telecommunications service must register 
with the Commission. The Commission determined that this registration 
requirement will enable it to better monitor the entry of carriers into 
the interstate telecommunications market and any associated increases 
in slamming activity, and will also enhance its ability to take 
appropriate enforcement action against carriers that have demonstrated 
a pattern or practice of slamming. The April 2001 Worksheet has been 
revised to collect this additional information. Where a facilities-
based carrier is currently providing a reseller with service, the 
reseller must notify its underlying facilities-based carrier that it 
has submitted the registration information to the Commission, within a 
week of having done so. Contributors must use the April 2001 Worksheet 
for their filings due on April 2, 2001. Copies of the April 2001 
Worksheet (FCC Form 499-A) and instructions may be downloaded from the 
Commission's Forms Web Page (www.fcc.gov/formpage.html). Copies may 
also be obtained from NECA at 973-560-4400. Small common carriers and 
small pay telephone providers should complete the table contained in 
Figure 1 of FCC Form 499-A to determine whether they meet the de 
minimis standard. Telecommunications providers that do not file because 
they are de minimis should retain Figure 1 and documentation of their 
contribution base revenues for 3 calendar years after the date each 
worksheet is due. These carriers may be required to file the table upon 
request by the Commission. If a reseller qualifies for the de minimis 
exemption, it must notify its underlying carriers that it is not 
contributing directly to universal service. Filers of the April 2001 
Worksheet are invited to complete a one-page survey concerning the 
implementation of electronic filing.

    Obligation to respond: Mandatory.
    OMB Control No.: 3060-0681.
    Expiration Date: 9/30/2003.
    Title: Toll-Free Service Access Codes--CC Docket No. 95-165, 47 CFR 
Part 52, Subpart D, Sections 52.101-52.111.
    Form No.: N/A.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit; Not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 168 respondents; 15 hours per response 
(avg.); 2520 total annual burden hours.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: $0.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion; Third party disclosures.
    Description: Responsible Organizations (RespOrgs) requesting that 
specific toll free numbers be placed in unavailable status are required 
to submit written requests, with appropriate documentation, to the toll 
free database administrator. This requirement will hold those RespOrgs 
more accountable and will decrease abuses of the lag time process. It 
will prevent numbers from being held in unavailable status without 
demonstrated reasons, and will make more numbers available for 
subscribers who need and want them. Current industry guidelines already 
require that RespOrgs requesting that a toll free number be made 
unavailable submit written requests with appropriate documentation. The 
requirement simply codified the existing industry guidelines. The 
information is used to determine if a particular toll free number 
appropriately can be placed in unavailable status. This will prevent 
the fraudulent use of toll free numbers.
    Obligation to respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits.


[[Page 14147]]


    OMB Control No.: 3060-0298.
    Expiration Date: 12/31/2003.
    Title: Tariffs (Other than Tariff Review Plan)--Part 61.
    Form No.: N/A.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 2000 respondents; 64.5 hours per response 
(avg.); 129,000 total annual burden hours.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: 
$1,965,000.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion.
    Description: Sections 201-205 of the Communications Act of 1934, as 
amended, require that common carriers establish just and reasonable 
charges, practices and regulations for the service they provide. The 
schedules containing these charges, practices and regulations must be 
filed with the Commission, which is required to determine whether such 
schedules are just, reasonable and not unduly discriminatory. Part 61 
of the Commission's Rules establishes the procedures for filing tariffs 
which contain the charges, practices, and regulations of the common 
carriers, supporting economic data and other related documents. The 
supporting data must also conform to other parts of the Commission's 
rules such as Parts 36 and 69. Part 61 prescribes the framework for the 
initial establishment of and subsequent revisions to tariffs. Tariffs 
that do not conform to Part 61 may be rejected. In addition to tariffs 
filed with the Commission, carriers may be required to post their 
schedules or rates and regulations. The information collected through a 
carrier's tariff is used by the Commission to determine whether the 
services offered are just and reasonable as the Act requires. The 
tariffs and any supporting documentation are examined in order to 
determine if the services are offered in a just and reasonable manner. 
Obligation to respond: Mandatory.

    OMB Control No.: 3060-0942.
    Expiration Date: 01/31/2004.
    Title: Access Charge Reform, Price Cap Performance Review for Local 
Exchange Carriers, Low-Volume Long Distance Users, Federal-State Joint 
Board on Universal Service.
    Form No.: N/A.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 108 respondents; 61.82 hours per response 
(avg.); 6,677 total annual burden hours.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: $0.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion.
    Description: In CC Docket Nos. 96-262, 94-1, 99-249, and 96-45, the 
Commission adopted an integrated interstate access reform and universal 
service proposal put forth by the members of the Coalition for 
Affordable Local and Long Distance Service (CALLS). The CALLS Proposal 
resolves major outstanding issues concerning access charges. In order 
to implement the CALLS Proposal, the Commission imposed several 
information collections. The Report and Order requires price cap LECS 
to modify their annual access tariff filings; the Report and Order 
requires each price cap or competitive LEC that wishes to receive 
support from the interstate access universal service support mechanism 
to submit quarterly to USAC data showing the number of lines it served 
in a study areas as of the last business day of the previous quarter. 
In addition to line count information, price cap LECs must file with 
USAC on June 30, 2000, October 15, 2000, April 16, 2001 and annually 
after that, price cap revenue data, prices for unbundled network 
element loops and line ports, and UNE zone boundary information. See 47 
CFR section 54.802. The Report and Order requires price cap LECs who 
choose not to follow the voluntary portions of the CALLS Proposal to 
submit cost support information, which the Commission would use to set 
their access rate levels. The Commission will use the modified tariff 
information filed by the price cap LECs to ensure compliance with the 
various interstate access reforms of the CALLS Proposals. USAC will use 
the line count and other information to determine, on a per-line basis, 
the amount that the carrier will receive from the interstate access 
universal service support mechanism. The Commission will use the cost 
support information to ensure that the interstate access rates are just 
and reasonable, as required by section 201(b) of the Communications 
Act. 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. 01-5827 Filed 3-8-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P