[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 21 (Wednesday, February 2, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5444-5445]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-1937]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION


Notice of Public Information Collection(s) Being Submitted to OMB 
for Review and Approval

January 25, 2005.
    Summary: The Federal Communications Commissions, 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 collection, 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 
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, and 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 collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.
    Dates: Written comments should be submitted on or before March 4, 
2005. 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 Cathy Williams, Federal 
Communications Commission, Room 1-C823, 445 12th Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20554 or via the Internet to [email protected] or 
Kristy L. LaLonde, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Room 10236 
NEOB, Washington, DC 20503, (202) 395-3087 or via the Internet at 
[email protected].
    For Further Information Contact: For additional information or copy 
of the information collection(s) contact Cathy Williams at (202) 418-
2918 or via the Internet at [email protected].
    Supplementary Information:
    OMB Control Number: 3060-0287.
    Title: Section 78.69, Station Records.
    Form Number: Not applicable.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities.
    Number of Respondents: 1,400.
    Estimated Time Per Response: 0.5 hours per week (26 hours per 
year).
    Frequency of Response: Recordkeeping requirement.
    Total Annual Burden: 36,400 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: None.
    Privacy Impact Assessment: No impact(s).
    Needs and Uses: 47 CFR Section 78.69 requires that licensees of 
Cable Television Relay Stations maintain various records, including but 
not limited to records pertaining to transmissions, unscheduled 
interruptions to transmissions, maintenance, observations, inspections 
and repairs. All stations are required to keep station records in an 
orderly and legible manner by the person or persons competent to do so. 
Section 78.69

[[Page 5445]]

requires that no station record or portion of the record can be erased, 
obliterated, or willfully destroyed within the period of retention 
required. Station records are required to be maintained for a period of 
not less than two years. The records kept pursuant to Section 78.69 
provide for a history of station operations and are reviewed by 
Commission staff during field investigations to ensure that proper 
operation of the stations is being conducted.

    OMB Control Number: 3060-0652.
    Title: Section 76.309, Customer Service Obligations; Section 
76.1602, Customer Service--General Information; Section 76.1603, 
Customer Service--Rate and Service Changes, and Section 76, 1619, 
Information on Subscriber Bills.
    Form Number: Not applicable.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities; State, Local or 
Tribal Government.
    Number of Respondents: 8,260.
    Estimated Time Per Response: 10 minutes to 1.0 hour.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion reporting requirement; Third 
party disclosure requirement.
    Total Annual Burden: 29,235 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: None.
    Privacy Impact Assessment: No impact(s).
    Needs and Uses: 47 CFR Section 76.1602 states that franchise 
authorities must provide affected operators 90 days written notice of 
its intent to enforce customer service standards. 47 CFR Sections 
76.1603 and 76.309 set forth various customer service obligations and 
notification requirements for changes in rates, programming services 
and channel positions. In addition, Sections 76.1603 states that cable 
operators shall provide written information on each of the following 
areas at the time of installation of service, at least annually to all 
subscribers, and at any time upon request: (1) Products and services 
offered; (2) prices and options for programming services and conditions 
of subscription to programming and other services; (3) installation and 
service maintenance policies; (4) instructions on how to use the cable 
service; (5) channel positions programming carried on the system; and 
(6) billing complaint procedures, including the address and telephone 
number of the local franchise authority's cable office. Section 76.1603 
states that customers will be notified of any changes in rates, 
programming services or channel positions as soon as possible in 
writing. Notice must be given to subscribers a minimum of thirty (30) 
days in advance of such changes if the change is within the control of 
the cable operator. In addition, the cable operator shall notify 
subscribers 30 days in advance of any significant changes in the other 
information required by section 76.1603. Section 76.1603 states that in 
addition to the requirements regarding advanced notification to 
customers of any changes in rates, programming services or channel 
positions, cable systems shall give 30 days written notice to both 
subscribers and local franchising authorities before implementing any 
rate or service change. Such notice shall state the precise amount of 
any rate change and briefly explain in readily understandable fashion 
the cause of the rate change (e.g. inflation, changes in external costs 
or the addition/deletion of channels). When the change involves the 
addition or deletion of channels, each channel added or deleted must be 
separately identified. Notices to subscribers shall inform them of 
their right to file complaints about changes in cable programming 
service tier rates and services, shall state that the subscriber may 
file the complaint within 90 days of the effective date of the rate 
change, and shall provide the address and phone number of the local 
franchising authority. 47 CFR Section 76.1619 states that in case of a 
billing dispute, the cable operator must respond to a written complaint 
from a subscriber within 30 days. The Commission requires the various 
disclosure and notifications contained in this collection as a means of 
consumer protection to ensure that subscribers and franchising 
authorities are knowledgeable of cable operators' business practices, 
current rates, rate changes for programming service and equipment, and 
channel line-up changes.

    OMB Control Number: 3060-0667.
    Title: Section 76.630, Compatibility With Consumer Electronics 
Equipment; Section 76.1621, Equipment Compatibility Offer; Section 
76.1622, Consumer Education of Equipment Compatibility.
    Form Number: Not applicable.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities.
    Number of Respondents: 8,250.
    Estimated Time Per Response: 1-3 hours.
    Frequency of Response: Recordkeeping requirement; On occasion 
reporting requirement.
    Total Annual Burden: 16,505 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: $5,800.
    Privacy Impact Assessment: No impact(s).
    Needs and Uses: On March 14, 2002, the Commission released an 
Order, In the Matter of Establishment of the Media Bureau and Other 
Organizational Changes, DA 02-577, which amended 47 CFR Section 76.630, 
76.1621 and 76.1622 to reflect the reorganization of the existing Cable 
Services and Mass Media Bureaus into a new Media Bureau. 47 CFR Section 
76.630(a) states that cable system operators shall not scramble 
otherwise encrypt signals carried on the basic service tier, though 
operators may file request for waivers of this prohibition with the 
Commission. When filing requests for waivers of this prohibition, 
operators must notify subscribers by mail of waiver requests. 47 CFR 
Section 76.1621 of the Commission's rules requires cable system 
operators that use scrambling or encryption equipment to provide 
subscribers special equipment that will enable the reception of 
multiple signals. The equipment offered shall include a single terminal 
device with dual descramblers/decoders and/or timers and bypass 
switches. 47 CFR Section 76.1622 requires cable system operators to 
provide in writing a consumer education program concerning equipment 
compatibility. The Commission has set forth these disclosure 
requirements for consumer protection purposes to inform subscribers of 
compatibility matters, and notify subscribers of cable operator'' 
requests to waive the prohibition on signal encryption.

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene H. Dortch,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 05-1937 Filed 2-1-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P