[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 66 (Friday, April 5, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16379-16382]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-8346]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION


Public Information Collections Approved by Office of Management 
and Budget

March 29, 2002.
    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.: 3060-0848.
    Expiration Date: 03/31/2005.
    Title: Deployment of Wireline Services Offering Advanced 
Telecommunications Capability, CC Docket No. 98-147.
    Form No.: N/A.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 1750 respondents; 94.63 per response 
(avg.); 165,600 total annual burden hours (for all collections under 
this control number).
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: $0.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion; Annually; Recordkeeping; Third 
Party Disclosure.
    Description: The following collections of information implement 
Section 251 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended. In CC Docket 
Nos. 98-147 and 96-98, the Commission sought to further Congress's goal 
of promoting innovation and investment by all participating in the 
telecommunications marketplace, in order to stimulate competition for 
all services, including advanced services. In furtherance of this goal, 
the Commission imposes certain collections of information on incumbent 
local exchange carriers (LECs) in order to ensure compliance with the 
incumbent LEC's collocation obligations and to assist incumbent LECs in 
protecting network integrity.
    a. Processing of Collocation Applications. Where neither the state 
nor the parties to an interconnection agreement set a different 
deadline, an incumbent LEC must tell the requesting telecommunications 
carrier whether a collocation application has been accepted or denied 
within ten calendar days after receiving the application. If the 
incumbent LEC deems that application unacceptable, it must advise the 
competitive LEC of any deficiencies within this ten calendar day 
period. The incumbent LEC must provide sufficient detail so that the 
requesting carrier has a reasonable opportunity to cure each 
deficiency. The competitive LEC must cure any deficiencies in its 
collocation application and resubmit the application within 10 calendar 
days after being advised of them. The requesting carrier must inform 
the ILEC that physical collocation should proceed within seven calendar 
days after receiving the ILEC's price quotation. See 47 CFR 51.323(l). 
(No. of respondents: 1400; hours per response: 40 hours; total annual 
burden: 56,000 hours).
    b. Amendment of Collocation Agreements, Collocation Tariffs, and 
Collocation-Related Provisions in Statements of Generally Available 
Terms. An incumbent LEC must offer to provide all forms of physical 
collocation (i.e., caged, cageless, shared, and adjacent) in accordance 
with the Commission's application processing and provisioning interval 
requirements, except to the extent a state sets its own application 
processing and collocation interval deadlines. To make an offer to 
provide physical collocation, an incumbent LEC must propose in response 
to a request from a competitive LEC an interconnection agreement or an 
amendment to an interconnection agreement including all necessary 
rates, terms, and conditions. The incumbent LEC also must file with the 
state commission proposed amendments to any tariff or statement of 
generally available terms and conditions that does not comply with the 
national standards for processing collocation applications and 
provisioning collocation arrangements. These amendments must provide 
for application processing intervals and physical collocation intervals 
no longer than the national standards except to the extent a state sets 
its own standard. (No. of respondents: 1400; hours per response: 44 
hours; total annual burden: 61,600 hours).
    c. State Commission Approval. If collocation becomes available in a 
previously exhausted incumbent LEC structure, the incumbent LEC must 
obtain the state commission's express approval before requiring a 
competitive LEC to move, or prohibiting a competitive incumbent LEC 
from moving, a collocation arrangement into that structure, unless the 
incumbent LEC and the collocation have an interconnection agreement 
that expressly provides for a different outcome. Safe-time work 
practices that the incumbent may waive to keep from competitively 
disadvantaging its or an affiliates operations or that prevents a 
collocation, from restoring service in the event of an outage are 
inherently suspect and must receive explicit state commission approval. 
(No. of respondents: 1400; hours per response: 2 hours; total annual 
burden: 2800 hours).
    d. Showing Regarding Loop Condition. Incumbent LECs who refuse a 
competitive carrier's request to condition a loop must make an 
affirmative showing to the relevant state commission that conditioning 
the specific loop in question will significantly degrade voiceband 
services. The incumbent LEC must also show that there is no adjacent or 
alternative loop available that can be conditioned or to which the 
customer's service can be moved to enable line sharing. See 47 CFR 
51.319(h)(5). (No. of respondents: 1400; hours per response: 2 hours; 
total annual burden: 2800 hours).
    e. Request for Alternative Physical Access. Incumbent LECs must 
provide requesting carriers with access to the loop facility for 
testing, maintenance, and repair. At a minimum, incumbent must provide 
requesting carriers with physical loop test access points to requesting 
carriers at the splitter, through a cross-connection to the 
competitor's collocation space, or through a standard interface. An 
incumbent seeking to utilize an alternative physical access methodology 
may request approval to do so from the

[[Page 16380]]

relevant state commission, but must show that the proposed alternative 
method is reasonable, nondiscriminatory, and will not disadvantage a 
requesting carrier's ability to perform loop or service testing, 
maintenance or repair. See 47 CFR 51.319(h)(7). (No. of respondents: 
1400; hours per response: .50 hours; total annual burden: 700 hours).
    f. Showing of Significant Degradation. An incumbent LEC may not 
deny a carrier's request to deploy a technology that is presumed 
acceptable for deployment unless the incumbent LEC demonstrates to the 
relevant state commission that deployment of the particular technology 
will significantly degrade the performance of other advanced services 
or traditional voiceband services. Where a carrier seeks to establish 
that deployment of a technology falls within the presumption of 
acceptability under 47 CFR 51.230(a)(3), the burden is on the 
requesting carrier to demonstrate to the state commission that its 
proposed deployment meets the threshold for a presumption of 
acceptability and will not, in fact, significantly degrade the 
performance of other advanced services or traditional voice band 
services. Upon a successful demonstration by the requesting carrier 
before a particular state commission, the deployed technology shall be 
presumed acceptable for deployment in other areas. See 47 CFR 51.230(b) 
and (c). (No. of respondents: 1400; hours per response: 2 hours; total 
annual burden: 2800 hours).
    g. Information on Type of Technology. A requesting carrier that 
seeks access to a loop or a high frequency portion of a loop to provide 
advanced services must provide to the incumbent LEC information on the 
type of technology that the requesting carrier seeks to deploy. Where 
the requesting carrier asserts that the technology it seeks to deploy 
fits within a generic power spectral density mask, it also must provide 
Spectrum Class information for the technology. Where a requesting 
carrier relies on a calculation-based approach to support deployment of 
a particular technology, it must provide the incumbent LEC with 
information on the speed and power at which the signal will be 
transmitted. The requesting carrier also must provide the information 
required above when notifying the incumbent LEC of any propose change 
in advanced services technology that the carrier uses on the loop. See 
47 CFR 51.231(b)-(c). (No. of respondents: 1400; hours per response: 
1.5 hours; total annual burden: 2100 hours).
    h. Petition. Any party seeking designation of a technology as a 
known disturber should file a petition for declaratory ruling. See 47 
CFR 51.232(b). (No. of respondents: 100; hours per response: 1 hour; 
total annual burden: 100 hours).
    i. Showing of Network Harm. Where a deployed advanced service is 
significantly degrading other services and the degradation remains 
unresolved by the deploying carrier(s) after a reasonable opportunity 
to correct the problem, the carrier whose services are being degraded 
must establish before the relevant state commission that a particular 
technology deployment is causing the significant degradation. Any 
claims of network harm presented to the deploying carrier(s) or, if 
subsequently necessary, the relevant state commission, must be 
supported with specific and verifiable information. See 47 CFR 51.233 
(b) and (c). (No. of respondents: 100; hours per response: 2 hours; 
total annual burden: 200 hours).
    j. List of Equipment, Affidavit--Whenever an incumbent LEC objects 
to collocation of equipment by a requesting telecommunications carrier 
for the purposes within the scope of section 251(c)(6) of the Act, the 
incumbent LEC shall prove to the state commission that the equipment is 
eligible for collocation. An incumbent LEC that denies collocation of a 
competitor's equipment, citing safety standards, must provide to the 
competitive LEC within five business days a list of all equipment that 
the incumbent LEC locates within the premises in question, together 
with an affidavit attesting that all of that equipment meets or exceeds 
the safety standard that the incumbent LEC contends the competitor's 
equipment fails to meet. The Commission requires that this affidavit 
set forth in detail: the exact safety requirement that the requesting 
carrier's equipment does not satisfy; the incumbent LEC's basis for 
concluding that the requesting carrier's equipment does not meet this 
safety requirement; and the incumbent LEC's basis for concluding why 
collocation of equipment not meeting this safety requirement would 
compromise network safety. See 47 CFR 51.323(b). (No. of respondents: 
1400; hours per response: 2 hours; total annual burden: 2800 hours).
    k. Space Limitation Documentation--An incumbent LEC shall submit to 
the state commission, subject to any protective order as the state 
commission may deem necessary, detailed floor plans or diagrams of any 
premises where the incumbent LEC claims that physical collocation is 
not practical because of space limitations. An incumbent LEC that 
contends space for physical collocation is not available in an 
incumbent LEC premises must also allow the requesting carrier to tour 
the entire premises in question, not just the room in which space was 
denied, without charge, within ten days of the receipt of the incumbent 
LEC's denial of space. The Commission requires that each incumbent LEC 
provides the state commission with all information necessary for the 
state commission to evaluate the reasonableness of the incumbent LEC's 
and its affiliates' reservations of space for future growth. This 
information shall include any information the state commission may 
require to implement its specific space reservation policies, including 
which space, if any, the incumbent or any of its affiliates have 
reserved for future use. The incumbent shall also provide the state 
commission with a detailed description of the specific future uses for 
which the space has been reserved. An incumbent LEC shall permit any 
requesting telecommunications carrier to inspect any floor plans or 
diagrams that the incumbent LEC provides a state commission, subject to 
any nondisclosure protections the state commission deems appropriate. 
See 47 CFR 51.321(f). (No. of respondents: 100; hours per response: 26 
hours; total annual burden; 26,000 hours).
    l. Report of Available Collocation Space--Upon request, an 
incumbent LEC must submit to the requesting carrier within ten days of 
the submission of the request a report indicating the incumbent LEC's 
available collocation space in a particular LEC premises. This report 
must specify the amount of collocation space available at each 
requested premises, the number of collocators, and any modifications in 
the use of the space since the last report. The incumbent LEC must 
maintain a publicly available document, posted for viewing on the 
Internet, indicating all premises that are full, and must update such a 
document within ten days of the date at which a premises runs out of 
physical collocation space. See 47 CFR 51.321(h). ILEC must provide 
this report within ten calendar days, as opposed to ten business days. 
The Commission requires that this report describe in detail the space 
that is available for collocation in the particular premises. This 
description requirement should enable a carrier requesting collocation 
to request the space that best fits its operational needs. See 47 CFR 
51.321(h). (No. of respondents: 1400;

[[Page 16381]]

hours per response: 2 hours; total annual burden: 2800 hours).
    m. Information on Security Training--An incumbent LEC must provide 
information to competitive LECs on the specific type of security 
training a competitive LEC's employees must complete in order for the 
incumbent LEC to maintain reasonable security measures for its 
equipment and networks. See 47 CFR 51.323(i)(3). (No. of respondents: 
1400; hours per response: .50 hours; total annual burden: 700 hours).
    n. Access to Spectrum Management Procedures and Policies--An 
incumbent LEC must provide competitive LECs with nondiscriminatory 
access to the incumbent LEC's spectrum management procedures and 
policies. See 47 CFR 51.231(a). (No. of respondents: 1400; hours per 
response: .50 hours; total annual burden: 700 hours).
    o. Rejection and Loop Information--An incumbent LEC must disclose 
to requesting carriers information with respect to the rejection of the 
requesting carrier's provision of advanced services, together with the 
specific reason for the rejection. An incumbent LEC must also disclose 
to requesting carriers information with respect to the number of loops 
using advanced services technology within the binder and type of 
technology deployed on those loops. See 47 CFR 51.231(a). (No. of 
respondents: 1400; hours per response: 1 hour; total annual burden: 
1400 hours).
    p. Notification of Performance Degradation--If a carrier claims a 
service is significantly degrading the performance of other advanced 
services or traditional voice band services, then that carrier must 
notify the causing carrier and allow that carrier a reasonable 
opportunity to correct the problem. Any claims of network harm must be 
supported with specific and verifiable supporting information. See 47 
CFR 51.233. (No. of respondents: 1400; hours per response: .50 hours; 
total annual burden: 700 hours).
    q. Certification of Interstate Traffic--The Commission requires 
that an incumbent LEC provision cross-connects between collocated 
carriers upon reasonable request. A collocated carrier may request such 
provisioning pursuant to either section 201 or 251 of the 
Communications Act. An incumbent LEC, however, is not required to 
provide a connection between the equipment in the collocated spaces of 
two or more telecommunications carriers if the connection is requested 
pursuant to section 201 of the Act, unless the requesting carrier 
submits to the incumbent LEC a certification that more than 10 percent 
of the amount of traffic to be transmitted through the connection will 
be interstate. The certification requirement recognizes that the 
Commission's jurisdiction under section 201 is subject to certain 
limits. Because the Commission's jurisdiction under section 251 is not 
similarly limited, no such certification is required for a request for 
a cross-connect under section 251 of the Act. See 47 CFR 51.323(h). 
(No. of respondents: 350; hours per response: 4 hours; total annual 
burden: 1400 hours). All of the collections are used to ensure that 
incumbent LECs and collocation carriers provide for collocation and 
obtain cross-connects in a manner consistent with sections 201 and 251 
of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended. Obligation to respond: 
Mandatory.
    OMB Control No.: 3060-0395.
    Expiration Date: 09/30/2002.
    Title: The ARMIS USOA Report (ARMIS Report 43-02); The ARMIS 
Service Quality Report (ARMIS Report 43-05; The ARMIS Infrastructure 
Report (ARMIS Report 43-07).
    Form No.: FCC Reports 43-02, 43-05, and 43-07.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 50 respondents; 587.3 hour per response 
(avg.); 29,366 total annual burden hours (for all collections under 
this control number).
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: $0.
    Frequency of Response: Annually.
    Description: Section 220 of the Communications Act of 1934, as 
amended, 47 U.S.C. 220, allows the Commission, at its discretion, to 
prescribe the forms of any and all accounts, records and memoranda to 
be kept by carriers subject to this Act, including the accounts, 
records and memoranda of the movement of traffic, as well as the 
receipts and expenditures of moneys. Sections 219(b) of the 
Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 219(b), authorizes 
the Commission by general or special orders to require any carrier 
subject to this Act to file monthly reports of earnings and expenses 
and to file periodical and/or special reports concerning any matters 
with respect to which the Commission is authorized or required by law 
to act. Section 43.21 of the Commission's rules details that 
requirement. ARMIS was implemented to facilitate the timely and 
efficient analysis of revenue requirements, rates of return and price 
caps; to provide an improved basis for audits and other oversight 
functions; and to enhance the Commission's ability to quantify the 
effects of alternative policy. Section 11 of the Communications Act of 
1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 161, requires the Commission, in every 
even-numbered year beginning in 1998, to review its regulations 
applicable to providers of telecommunications services to determine 
whether the regulations are no longer in the public interest due to 
meaningful economic competition between providers of such services and 
whether such regulations should be repealed or modified. Section 11 
further instructs the Commission to repeal or modify any regulation it 
determines to be no longer in the public interest.
    FCC Report 43-02--The ARMIS 43-02 Report contains company-wide data 
for each account specified in the Uniform System of Accounts 
(``USOA''). It provides the annual operating results of the carriers' 
activities for every account in the USOA. The Commission clarified in 
an Order on Reconsideration released March 8, 2002, that mid-sized LECs 
are not required to file the ARMIS FCC Report 43-02. (No. of 
respondents: 30; hours per response: 395 hours; total annual burden: 
11,850).
    FCC Report 43-05--The ARMIS 43-05 Report collects data at the study 
area level and holding company level and is designed to capture trends 
in service quality information in the areas of service quality under 
price cap regulation. It provides service quality information in the 
areas of interexchange access service installation and repair 
intervals, local service installation and repair intervals, trunk 
blockage and total switch downtime for price cap companies. (No. of 
respondents: 12; hours per response: 849; total annual burden: 10,196 
hours, includes recordkeeping requirement).
    FCC Report 43-07--The ARMIS 43-07 Report is designed to capture 
trends in telephone industry infrastructure development under price cap 
regulation. It provides switch deployment and capabilities data. (No. 
of respondents: 8; hours per response: 550 hours; total annual burden: 
4400 hours). The information contained in these reports provides the 
necessary detail to enable this Commission to fulfill its regulatory 
responsibilities. Automated reporting of these data greatly enhances 
the Commission's ability to process and analyze the extensive amounts 
of data it needs to administer its rules. ARMIS facilitates the timely 
and efficient analysis of revenue requirements, rates of return and 
price caps, and provides an improved basis for auditing and other 
oversight functions. It also enhances the Commission's ability to 
quantify the

[[Page 16382]]

effects of policy proposals. Obligation to respond: Mandatory.
    OMB Control No.: 3060-0511.
    Expiration Date: 09/30/2002.
    Title: ARMIS Access Report.
    Form No.: FCC Report 43-04.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 121 respondents; 157 hour per response 
(avg.); 18,997 total annual burden hours (for all collections under 
this control number).
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: $0.
    Frequency of Response: Annually.
    Description: Section 220 of the Communications Act of 1934, as 
amended, 47 USC 220, allows the Commission, at its discretion, to 
prescribe the forms of any and all accounts, records and memoranda to 
be kept by carriers subject to this Act, including the accounts, 
records and memoranda of the movement of traffic, as well as the 
receipts and expenditures of moneys. Sections 219(b) of the 
Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 USC 219(b), authorizes the 
Commission by general or special orders to require any carrier subject 
to this Act to file monthly reports of earnings and expenses and to 
file periodical and/or special reports concerning any matters with 
respect to which the Commission is authorized or required by law to 
act. Section 43.21 of the Commission's rules details that requirement. 
ARMIS was implemented to facilitate the timely and efficient analysis 
of revenue requirements, rates of return and price caps; to provide an 
improved basis for audits and other oversight functions; and to enhance 
the Commission's ability to quantify the effects of alternative policy. 
Section 11 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 
161, requires the Commission, in every even-numbered year beginning in 
1998, to review its regulations applicable to providers of 
telecommunications services to determine whether the regulations are no 
longer in the public interest due to meaningful economic competition 
between providers of such services and whether such regulations should 
be repealed or modified. Section 11 further instructs the Commission to 
repeal or modify any regulation it determines to be no longer in the 
public interest. The ARMIS 43-04 Report monitors revenue requirements, 
joint cost allocations, jurisdictional separations, and access charges. 
In the Report and Order, 2000 Biennial Regulatory Review--Comprehensive 
Review of the Accounting Requirements and ARMIS Reporting Requirements 
for Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers (LECs) and Amendments to the 
Uniform System of Accounts and Jurisdictional Separations Reform (R&O), 
released November 5, 2001, the Commission eliminated the requirement 
that mid-sized LECs file the FCC Report 43-04. (This was also clarified 
in an Order on Reconsideration released March 8, 2002). In addition the 
Commission revised the FCC Report 43-04 to reduce the data required to 
be reported during the interim freeze of certain jurisdictional cost 
categories and allocation factors prescribed in 47 CFR part 36. The 
information contained in this report provides the necessary detail to 
enable this Commission to fulfill its regulatory responsibilities. 
Automated reporting of these data greatly enhances the Commission's 
ability to process and analyze the extensive amounts of data it needs 
to administer its rules. ARMIS facilitates the timely and efficient 
analysis of revenue requirements, rates of return and price caps, and 
provides an improved basis for auditing and other oversight functions. 
It also enhances the Commission's ability to quantify the effects of 
policy proposals. Obligation to respond: Mandatory.

    OMB Control No.: 3060-0513.
    Expiration Date: 09/30/2002.
    Title: ARMIS Joint Cost Report.
    Form No.: FCC Report 43-03.
    Respondents: Businesses or other for profit.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 121 respondents; 83 hours per response 
(avg.); 10,043 total annual burden hours.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: $0.
    Frequency of Response: Annually.
    Description: Section 220 of the Communications Act of 1934, as 
amended, 47 U.S.C. 220, allows the Commission, at its discretion, to 
prescribe the forms of any and all accounts, records and memoranda to 
be kept by carriers subject to this Act, including the accounts, 
records and memoranda of the movement of traffic, as well as the 
receipts and expenditures of moneys. Sections 219(b) of the 
Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 USC 219(b), authorizes the 
Commission by general or special orders to require any carrier subject 
to this Act to file monthly reports of earnings and expenses and to 
file periodical and/or special reports concerning any matters with 
respect to which the Commission is authorized or required by law to 
act. Section 43.21 of the Commission's rules details that requirement. 
ARMIS was implemented to facilitate the timely and efficient analysis 
of revenue requirements, rates of return and price caps; to provide an 
improved basis for audits and other oversight functions; and to enhance 
the Commission's ability to quantify the effects of alternative policy. 
Section 11 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 
161, requires the Commission, in every even-numbered year beginning in 
1998, to review its regulations applicable to providers of 
telecommunications services to determine whether the regulations are no 
longer in the public interest due to meaningful economic competition 
between providers of such services and whether such regulations should 
be repealed or modified. Section 11 further instructs the Commission to 
repeal or modify any regulation it determines to be no longer in the 
public interest. The ARMIS 43-03 Report is needed to administer the 
Commission's joint cost rules and to analyze data in order to prevent 
cross-subsidization of nonregulated operations by the regulated 
operations of Tier 1 carriers. In an Order on Reconsideration, released 
March 8, 2002, the Commission clarified that mid-sized carriers are not 
required to file FCC Report 43-03 on April 1, 2002. The information 
contained in this report provides the necessary detail to enable this 
Commission to fulfill its regulatory responsibilities. Automated 
reporting of these data greatly enhances the Commission's ability to 
process and analyze the extensive amounts of data it needs to 
administer its rules. ARMIS facilitates the timely and efficient 
analysis of revenue requirements, rates of return and price caps, and 
provides an improved basis for auditing and other oversight functions. 
It also enhances the Commission's ability to quantify the effects of 
policy proposals. Obligation to respond: Mandatory.
    Public reporting burden for the collections of information are as 
noted above. Send comments regarding the burden estimates 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.
William F. Caton,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 02-8346 Filed 4-4-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P