[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 25 (Monday, February 9, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Page 6407]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-2575]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION


Public Information Collections Approved by Office of Management 
and Budget

February 2, 2009.
SUMMARY: 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: Thomas Butler, Federal Communications 
Commission, (202) 418-1492 or via the Internet at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    OMB Control No.: 3060-0816.
    OMB Approval Date: January 30, 2009.
    Expiration Date: January 31, 2010.
    Title: Local Telephone Competition and Broadband Reporting (Report 
and Order, WC Docket No. 07-38, FCC 08-89; Order on Reconsideration, WC 
Docket No. 07-38, FC 08-148).
    Form Number(s): FCC Form 477.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 1,610 respondents; 3,220 responses; 
1,085,140 total annual hours; 337 hours per response (average).
    Needs and Uses: This information collection (IC) was approved by 
OMB as a revision. The Commission reported an increase of 956,340 hours 
to the total annual burden. This program change increase is due to an 
increase in the estimated number of respondents and responses since 
this IC was last submitted to the OMB in June 2008.
    The Commission submitted two Orders to the OMB for approval. The 
first was a Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 
in WC Docket No. 07-38, FCC 08-89 and the second was an Order on 
Reconsideration in WC Docket No. 07-38, FCC 08-148. With these two 
Orders, the Commission revised the FCC Form 477 data collection to 
improve the Commission's understanding of the extent of broadband 
deployment, facilitating the development of appropriate broadband 
policies. In particular, these amendments will improve the Commission's 
ability to carry out its obligation under section 706 of the 
Telecommunications Act of 1996 to ``determine whether advanced 
telecommunications capability is being deployed to all Americans in a 
reasonable and timely fashion.'' The Report and Order revised the FCC 
Form 477 to require all broadband providers to report the number of 
broadband connections in service in individual Census Tracts. The 
Report and Order adopted three additional changes to FCC Form 477. 
First, it requires providers to report broadband service speed data in 
conjunction with subscriber counts according to new categories for 
download and upload speeds. These new speed tiers will better identify 
services that support advanced applications. Second, it amended 
reporting requirements for mobile wireless broadband providers to 
require them to report the number of subscribers whose data plans allow 
them to browse the Internet and access the lawful Internet content of 
their choice. Third, it requires providers of interconnected Voice over 
Internet Protocol (interconnected VoIP) service to report 
subscribership information on FCC Form 477.
    The Order on Reconsideration amended FCC Form 477 to require filers 
to report the percentage of broadband connections that are residential 
at the Census Tract level. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 directs 
the Commission to take actions to open all telecommunications markets 
to competition and to seek to promote innovation and investment by all 
participants, including new entrants. A central task in creating this 
framework is the opening of previously monopolized local 
telecommunications markets. By collecting timely and reliable 
information about the pace and extent of competition for local 
telephony service in different geographic areas--including rural 
areas--the Commission significantly improves the ability to evaluate 
the effectiveness of actions the Commission and the states are taking 
to facilitate economic competition in those markets. The Report and 
Order provides for additional methods to supplement the data reported 
by FCC Form 477 filers, including a voluntary self-reporting system, 
and a recommendation to the Census Bureau that the American Community 
Survey questionnaire be modified to gather information about broadband 
availability and subscription in households. The information is used by 
the Commission to prepare reports that help inform consumers and policy 
makers at the federal and state level of the development of competition 
in the local telephone service market and the deployment of broadband 
services. The Commission will continue to use the information to better 
inform its understanding of broadband deployment in conjunction with 
its congressionally mandated section 706 reports. The Commission also 
uses the data to support its analyses in a variety of rulemaking 
proceedings under the Communications Act of 1934, as amended. Absent 
this information collection, the Commission would lack essential data 
for assisting it in determining the effectiveness of its policies and 
fulfilling its statutory responsibilities in accordance with the 
Communications Act of 1934, as amended.

Federal Communications Commission.

Marlene H. Dortch,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E9-2575 Filed 2-6-09; 8:45 am]
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