[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 246 (Thursday, December 22, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79679-79680]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-32786]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION


Information Collection Being Reviewed by the Federal 
Communications Commission

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burden 
and as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 
3501-3520), the Federal Communications Commission invites the general 
public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment 
on the following information collection(s). 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; (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; and (e) 
ways to further reduce the information burden for small business 
concerns with fewer than 25 employees.
    The FCC may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information 
unless it displays a currently valid OMB 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 OMB control number.

DATES: Written Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) comments should be 
submitted on or before February 21, 2012. If you anticipate that you 
will be submitting PRA comments, but find it difficult to do so within 
the period of time allowed by this notice, you should advise the FCC 
contact listed below as soon as possible.

ADDRESSES: Submit your PRA comments to Nicholas A. Fraser, Office of 
Management and Budget, via fax at (202) 395-5167 or via Internet at 
[email protected] and to Judith B.Herman, Federal 
Communications Commission, via the Internet at [email protected]. 
To submit your PRA comments by email send them to: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Judith B. Herman, Office of Managing 
Director, (202) 418-0214.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    OMB Control Number: 3060-0986.
    Title: Competitive Carrier Line Count Report and Self-Certification 
as a Rural Carrier, WC Docket Nos. 10-90 and 05-337, CC Docket No. 96-
45 and GN Docket No. 09-51.
    Form Number: FCC Form 525.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities, not-for-profit 
institutions and state, local or tribal government.
    Number of Respondents: 3,016 respondents; 3,130 responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: .5 hours-8 hours.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion, quarterly and annual reporting 
requirements.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. 
Statutory authority for this information collection is contained in 47 
U.S.C. Sections 151-154, 201-206, 214, 218-220, 251, 252, 254, 256, 
303(r), 403, 405 and 410 of the

[[Page 79680]]

Communications Act of 1934, as amended.
    Total Annual Burden: 9,995 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: N/A.
    Privacy Impact Assessment: N/A.
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: The Commission is not 
requesting that respondents submit confidential information. However, 
respondents may request materials or information submitted to the 
Commission be withheld from public inspection under 47 CFR 0.459 of the 
Commission's rules.
    Needs and Uses: This collection is being submitted as a revision to 
a currently approved collection. In November 2011, the Commission 
adopted an order reforming its high-cost universal service support 
mechanisms. Connect America Fund; A National Broadband Plan for Our 
Future; Establish Just and Reasonable Rates for Local Exchange 
Carriers; High-Cost Universal Service Support; Developing a Unified 
Intercarrier Compensation Regime; Federal-State Joint Board on 
Universal Service; Lifeline and Link-Up; Universal Service Reform--
Mobility Fund, WC Docket Nos. 10-90, 07-135, 05-337, 03-109; GN Docket 
No. 09-51; CC Docket Nos. 01-92, 96-45; WT Docket No. 10-208, FCC 11-
161. This revision addresses several reforms adopted in the order. The 
Commission plans to submit additional revisions to 3060-0986 for OMB 
review to address other substantial, non-emergency reforms adopted in 
the order at a later date.
    The order provides that existing high-cost support for price cap 
incumbent local exchange carriers will be frozen at 2011 levels. In 
addition, the order provides for up to $300 million annually in 
incremental support to those carriers, to be allocated by the use of a 
cost equation. Carriers accepting such incremental funding will be 
required to meet defined broadband deployment obligations. Eligible 
carriers will be required to notify the Commission, the Universal 
Service Fund Administrative Company (the Universal Service Fund 
Administrator or USAC), as well as relevant state and Tribal 
authorities the amount, if any, of funds they accept. Carriers 
accepting funding will also be required to identify the areas to which 
they will deploy broadband to meet their deployment obligations. 
Specifically, carriers will be required to provide, in electronic form, 
the following data for each location to which they intend to deploy 
broadband in satisfaction of their obligation: latitude, longitude, 
census block, and wire center.
    The order also adopts a rule to reduce, dollar-for-dollar, a 
carrier's high-cost loop support (for rate-of-return carriers) or 
Connect America Phase I support (for price cap carriers) to the extent 
that the carrier's local end user rate plus state regulated fees do not 
meet a specified urban rate floor. Accordingly, carriers will be 
required to report, on an annual basis, the local end user rates that 
fall below the specified urban rate floor, and the number of lines 
associated with each rate so that the universal service fund 
Administrator can calculate reductions in support.
    The order also modifies section 54.307 (often called the 
``identical support rule'') and related rules, which provide that 
competitive eligible telecommunications carriers receive the same per-
line level of support as received by incumbent LECs serving the same 
areas. As a result, the Commission will be reducing the burdens 
associated with a number of collections in this control number, 
including line count filings for competitive ETCs and incumbent LECs 
serving competitive areas, disaggregation plans (which permit incumbent 
LECs to target support for the purpose of calculating per-line support 
amounts), and certifications for carriers serving Tribal lands and 
Alaska native regions. In addition, the Commission eliminates the ``own 
costs'' exception to the interim cap for competitive ETCs. The interim 
cap limited the total annual amount of high-cost support competitive 
ETCs in any state could receive to the amount competitive ETCs in that 
state received in March 2008 on an annualized basis. The ``own costs'' 
exception provided that competitive ETCs that showed that they met the 
support threshold in the same manner as the incumbent LEC would not be 
subject to the cap. Eliminating the ``own costs'' exception does not 
alter the content of this information collection; it does, however, 
address the terms of clearance in the May 2009 Notice of Office of 
Management and Budget Action.
    The order also revises the certifications that state commissions 
(or ETCs that are not subject to state jurisdiction) are required to 
file annually with the Commission and the universal service fund 
Administrator to ensure that carriers use universal service support 
``only for the provision, maintenance and upgrading of facilities and 
services for which the support is intended'' consistent with section 
254(e) of the Act. The existing certifications are prospective only. 
Although the existing certifications are prospective only, the revised 
certification will ensure that carriers not only will use support in 
the next year for the intended purposes, but also have used support in 
the prior year for the intended purposes.
    The order also eliminates eligibility for Safety Net Additive 
support for costs incurred after 2009. Accordingly, this collection is 
being revised to eliminate the requirement that carriers notify the 
Commission and USAC that they qualify for Safety Net Additive Support.
    The order also eliminates the distinction between ``rural'' and 
``non-rural'' carriers. Therefore, this collection is being revised to 
eliminate the reporting requirements for self-certification as a rural 
carrier.
    The Order also moves the recordkeeping requirement from 47 CFR 
54.202(e) to new 47 CFR 54.320. It also increases the required document 
retention period from five to ten years and makes clear that carriers 
are subject to random compliance audits and other investigations and 
must make all documents and records available to the Commission, any of 
its Bureaus or Offices, the universal service fund Administrator, and 
their respective auditors.
    Finally, during the review process, the Commission determined that 
the reporting requirements of OMB Control Number 3060-0894 should be 
eliminated. The order eliminated the rate comparability review and 
certification as well as the certification letter accounting for 
receipt of federal support in OMB Control Number 3060-0894. These 
requirements are duplicative of the certification pursuant to section 
254(e) of the Act, which is contained in the instant OMB Control 
Number. Upon OMB approval of this revision, the Commission will 
voluntarily discontinue OMB Control Number 3060-0894.


Federal Communications Commission.

Bulah P. Wheeler,
Deputy Manager, Office of the Secretary, Office of Managing Director.
[FR Doc. 2011-32786 Filed 12-21-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P