[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 93 (Friday, May 13, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27986-27987]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-11751]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    The Department of Commerce will submit to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for clearance the following proposal for collection of 
information under the emergency provisions of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35).
    Agency: National Telecommunications and Information Administration 
(NTIA).
    Title: Broadband Subscription and Usage Survey (Supplement to 
Census Bureau's Current Population Survey).
    OMB Control Number: 0660-0021.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Emergency submission (revision of a currently 
approved information collection).
    Number of Respondents: 54,000.
    Average Time per Response: 10 minutes.
    Burden Hours: 9,000.
    Needs and Uses: NTIA proposes to add 52 questions to the U.S. 
Census Bureau's July 2011 Current Population Survey (CPS) in order to 
gather reliable data on broadband (also known as high-speed Internet) 
use by U.S. households. President Obama has established a national goal 
of universal, affordable broadband access for all Americans.\1\ To that 
end, the Administration is working with Congress, the Federal 
Communications Commission (FCC), and other stakeholders to develop and 
advance economic and regulatory policies that foster broadband 
deployment and adoption. Current, systematic, and comprehensive data on 
broadband access and non-use by U.S. households is critical to allow 
policymakers not only to gauge progress made to date, but also to 
identify problem areas with a specificity that permits carefully 
targeted and cost effective responses.
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    \1\ See http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/20091217-recovery-act-investments-broadband.pdf (last viewed May 11, 2010).
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    The need for comprehensive broadband data has become more crucial. 
On February 10, 2011, during a speech in Marquette, Michigan, the 
President announced his ``national wireless initiative,'' calling for 
extending the next (4G) generation of wireless service to 98 percent of 
the country over the next five years. The Government Accountability 
Office (GAO), NTIA, and the FCC recently issued reports noting the lack 
of useful broadband data for policymakers, and Congress passed 
legislation--the Broadband Data Improvement Act in 2008 and the 
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009--wholly or partly in 
response to such criticisms. The Organization for Economic Cooperation 
and Development (OECD) has ranked the United States low in the number 
of households with broadband access over the past several years despite 
a period of rapid growth in the technology's penetration. The OECD 
looks to Census data as an important input into their inter-country 
benchmark analyses. Modifying the July 2011 CPS to include NTIA's 
requested broadband data questions will allow the Commerce Department 
and NTIA to inform the President's new wireless initiative, respond to 
Congressional concerns and directives, and work with the OECD in 
analyzing more recent data.
    Affected Public: Individuals and households.
    Frequency: Once.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    OMB Desk Officer: Nicholas Fraser, (202) 395-5887.
    Copies of the above information collection proposal can be obtained 
by

[[Page 27987]]

calling or writing Diana Hynek, Departmental Paperwork Clearance 
Officer, (202) 482-0266, Department of Commerce, Room 6616, 14th and 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230 (or via the Internet at 
[email protected]).
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice 
to Nicholas Fraser, OMB Desk Officer, Fax number (202) 395-7285, or via 
the Internet at

    Dated: May 10, 2011.
Gwellnar Banks,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2011-11751 Filed 5-12-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-06-P