[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 139 (Friday, July 18, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41351-41353]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-16264]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION


Notice of Public Information Collection(s) Being Reviewed by the 
Federal Communications Commission, Comments Requested

July 11, 2008.
SUMMARY: The Federal Communications Commission, as part of its 
continuing effort to reduce paperwork burdens, invites the general 
public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment 
on the following information collection(s), as required by the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), Public Law No. 104-13. An agency 
may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless it 
displays a currently valid control number. Subject to the PRA, no 
person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a 
collection of information that does not display a

[[Page 41352]]

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 PRA comments should be submitted on or before September 
16, 2008. 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: Interested parties may submit all PRA comments by e-mail or 
U.S. post mail. To submit your comments by e-mail, send them to 
[email protected] and/or to [email protected]. To submit your comments 
by U.S. mail, mark them to the attention of Cathy Williams, Federal 
Communications Commission, Room 1-C823, 445 12th Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20554.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information about the 
information collection(s), contact Cathy Williams at (202) 418-2918 or 
send an e-mail to [email protected] and/or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    OMB Control Number: 3060-1089.
    Title: Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech 
Services for Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities; E911 
Requirements for IP-Enabled Service Providers CG Docket No. 03-123 and 
WC Docket No. 05-196, FCC 08-151.
    Form No.: N/A.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities; Individuals or 
households; Not-for-profit institutions; State, local or tribal 
government.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 11 respondents; 1,068,000 
responses.
    Estimated Time per response: 3 minutes (.05 hours) to 1 hour.
    Frequency of Response: One-time and on occasion reporting 
requirements; Recordkeeping requirement; Third party disclosure 
requirement.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. The 
statutory authority is contained in sections 1, 2, 4(i), (4)(j), 225, 
251, and 303(r) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 
U.S.C. 151, 152, 154(i), 154(j), 225, 251, 303(r).
    Total Annual Burden: 130,618 hours.
    Total Annual Costs: $4,224,000.
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: An assurance of 
confidentiality is not offered because the Commission has no direct 
involvement in the collection of personally identifiable information 
(PII) from individuals and/or households.
    Privacy Act Impact Assessment: No impact(s).
    Needs and Uses: On November 30, 2005, the Commission released 
Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for 
Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities; Access to Emergency 
Services, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (VRS/IP Relay 911 NPRM), CG 
Docket No. 03-123, FCC 05-196, published at 71 FR 5221 (February 1, 
2006), which addressed the issue of access to emergency services for 
Internet-based forms of Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS), namely 
Video Relay Service (VRS) and Internet Protocol (IP) Relay. The 
Commission sought to adopt means to ensure that such calls promptly 
reach the appropriate emergency service provider. By doing so, the VRS/
IP Relay 911 NPRM sought comment on the following issues: (1) Whether 
the Commission should require VRS and IP Relay service providers to 
establish a registration process in which VRS and IP Relay service 
users provide, in advance, the primary location from which they will be 
making VRS or IP Relay service calls (the Registered Location), so that 
a communications assistant (CA) can identify the appropriate Public 
Safety Answering Point (PSAP) to contact; (2) whether VRS and IP Relay 
providers should be required to register their customers and obtain a 
Registered Location from their customers so that they will be able to 
make the outbound call to the appropriate PSAP; (3) whether the 
Commission should require VRS and IP Relay providers to provide 
appropriate warning labels for installation on customer premises 
equipment (CPE) used in connection with VRS and IP Relay services; and 
(4) whether the Commission should require VRS and IP Relay providers to 
obtain and keep a record of affirmative acknowledgement by every 
subscriber of having received and understood the advisory regarding 
possible limitations when placing emergency calls.
    On May 8, 2006, the Commission released Telecommunications Relay 
Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals with Hearing and 
Speech Disabilities; Misuse of IP Relay Service and Video Relay 
Service, Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (IP Relay/VRS Misuse 
FNPRM), CG Docket No. 03-123, FCC 06-58, published at 71 FR 31131 (June 
1, 2006), which sought further comment on whether IP Relay and VRS 
providers should be required to implement user registration systems and 
what information users should provide, as a means of curbing 
illegitimate IP Relay and VRS calls.
    On May 9, 2006, the Commission released Telecommunications Relay 
Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals with Hearing and 
Speech Disabilities, Declaratory Ruling and Further Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking (Interoperability Declaratory Ruling and FNPRM), CG Docket 
No. 03-123, FCC 06-57, published at 71 FR 30818 and 71 FR 30848 (May 
31, 2006). In the Interoperability Declaratory Ruling and FNPRM, the 
Commission sought comment on the feasibility of establishing a single, 
open, and global database of proxy numbers for VRS users that would be 
available to all service providers, so that a hearing person can call a 
VRS user through any VRS provider, and without having first to 
ascertain the VRS user's current IP address.
    The Interoperability Declaratory Ruling and FNPRM proposed 
information collection requirements involving an open, global database 
of VRS proxy numbers, and sought comment on: (1) Whether VRS providers 
should be required to provide information to populate an open, global 
database of VRS proxy numbers and to keep the information current; (2) 
whether deaf and hard of hearing individuals using video broadband 
communication need uniform and static end-point numbers linked to the 
North American Numbering Plan (NANP), and that would remain consistent 
across all VRS providers, so that users can contact one another and be 
contacted to the same extent that Public Switched Telephone Network and 
VoIP users are able to identify and call one another; and (3) whether 
participation by service providers should be mandatory so that all VRS 
users can receive incoming calls. The proposed information collection 
requirements were asserted to be necessary in order: (1) To ensure that 
Internet-based TRS users can be reached by voice telephone users in the 
same way that voice telephone users are called; and (2) to ensure that 
emergency calls placed by Internet-based TRS users will be routed 
directly and automatically to the appropriate

[[Page 41353]]

emergency services authorities by Internet-based TRS providers.
    On June 24, 2008, the Commission released Telecommunications Relay 
Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals with Hearing and 
Speech Disabilities; E911 Requirements for IP-Enabled Service 
Providers, Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 
(Report and Order), CG Docket No. 03-123 and WC Docket No. 05-196, FCC 
08-151, addressing the issues raised in these notices. The Report and 
Order provides VRS and IP Relay users with a reliable and consistent 
means by which others (including emergency personnel) can identify or 
reach them by, among other things, integrating VRS and IP Relay users 
into the ten-digit, NANP numbering system.
    First, to complete a telephone call to an Internet-based TRS user, 
a provider must have some method of logically associating the telephone 
number dialed by the caller to the Internet-based TRS user's device. 
That method, known as the TRS Numbering Directory, is a central 
database that maps each user's telephone number to routing information 
needed to find that user's device on the Internet. The Report and Order 
requires VRS and IP Relay providers to collect and maintain the routing 
information from their registered users and to provision that 
information to the TRS Numbering Directory so that this mapping can 
occur.
    Second, because there is no reliable means for VRS and IP Relay 
providers, unlike wireline carriers, to automatically know the physical 
location of their users, the Report and Order requires VRS and IP Relay 
providers to collect and maintain the Registered Location of their 
registered users. And to ensure that authorities can retrieve a user's 
Registered Location (along with the provider's name and CA's 
identification number for callback purposes), the Report and Order 
requires VRS and IP Relay providers to provision that information into, 
or make that information available through, ALI databases across the 
country.
    Third, to ensure that VRS and IP Relay users are aware of their 
providers' numbering and E911 service obligations and to inform those 
users of their providers' E911 capabilities, the Report and Order 
requires each VRS and IP Relay provider to post an advisory on its Web 
site, and in any promotional materials directed to consumers, 
addressing numbering and E911 services for VRS or IP Relay. Providers 
also must obtain and keep a record of affirmative acknowledgement from 
each of their registered users of having received and understood the 
user notification.
    The new or modified information collection requirements are 
contained in 47 CFR 64.605 (a) and (b), and 47 CFR 64.611 (a), (b), (c) 
and (f), and subject to the PRA must be approved by the Office of 
Management and Budget before becoming effective.

Federal Communications Commission.
William F. Caton,
Deputy Secretary.
 [FR Doc. E8-16264 Filed 7-17-08; 8:45 am]
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