[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 86 (Thursday, May 3, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26278-26279]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-10634]


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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 July 2, 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 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: 3060-0484.
    Title: Sections 4.1 and 4.2, Part 4 of the Commission's Rules 
Concerning Disruptions to Communications (NORS).
    Form Number: N/A.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities and Not-for-
profit Institutions.
    Number of Respondents: 118 respondents; 15,444 responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: .25 hours to 2 hours.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion and annual reporting 
requirements.
    Obligation to Respond: Mandatory. Statutory authority for this 
collection of information is contained in 47 U.S.C. sections 151, 152, 
154(i)-(k), 154(o), 218, 219, 230, 256, 301, 302(a), 303(f), 303(g), 
303(j), 303(r), 403, 615a-l, 621(b)(3), 621(d), 1302(a) and 1302(b) of 
the Communications Act of 1934, as amended; and Section 1704 of the 
Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act of 
1998, 44 U.S.C. section 3504.
    Total Annual Burden: 29,647 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: N/A.
    Privacy Impact Assessment: N/A.
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: Outage reports filed pursuant 
to Part 4 of the Commission's rules are presumed confidential. The 
information in the filings may be shared with the Department of 
Homeland Security only under appropriate confidential disclosure 
provisions. Other persons seeking disclosure must follow the procedures 
delineated in 47 CFR sections 0.457 and 0.459 of the Commission's rules 
for requests for and disclosure of information.
    Needs and Uses: The Commission is seeking OMB approval for a 
revision of this information collection in order to obtain the full 
three year approval from OMB. The Commission is reporting a 9,909 hours 
program change increase in the Commission's previous burden estimates. 
The increase in the burden estimates is due to adoption of FCC 12-22, 
Report and Order, extending the Part 4 outage reporting requirements to 
interconnected Voice over Internet Providers (VoIP) which are new 
respondents subject to the requirements of this information collection.
    Specifically, the Commission extended mandatory outage reporting 
rules to facilities-based and non-facilities-based interconnected VoIP 
service providers and applied the current Part 4 definition of 
``outage'' to outages of interconnected VoIP service, covering the 
complete loss of service and/or connectivity to customers at least 30 
minutes duration that potentially affects at least 900,000 user minutes 
of interconnected VoIP services and results in complete loss of 
service; or potentially affects any special offices and facilities such 
as a 911 facility.
    Collecting data on significant outages of interconnected VoIP 
services will help the Commission to monitor compliance with the 
statutory 911 obligations of interconnected VoIP service providers, as 
well as help ensure the Nation's current and future 911 systems are as 
reliable and resilient as possible both on a day-to-day basis and in 
times of a major emergency. The Commission recognizes that consumers 
are increasingly relying on Internet Protocol (IP)-based technologies 
as

[[Page 26279]]

substitutes for communications services provided by older 
communications technologies, and increasingly use interconnected VoIP 
services in lieu of traditional telephone service. As of December 31, 
2010, 31 percent of the more than 87 million residential telephone 
subscriptions in the United States were users of interconnected VoIP 
providers--an increase of 21 percent (from 22.4 million to 27.1 
million) from the end of 2009. Additionally, the Commission estimates 
that approximately 31 percent of residential wireline 911 calls are 
made using VoIP service.
    The information collected is administered by the FCC's Public 
Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB) which maintains an Internet 
Web site portal for the electronic submission of the required outage 
reports. In addition, provision is made for the submission of required 
data by other than electronic means in cases where electronic 
submission is not feasible. In cases where specified offices and 
facilities (other than 911 offices and facilities) are submitted within 
120 minutes of an outage to the Commission's duty officer (a post 
staffed 24 hours a day) in the FCC's Communications and Crisis 
Management Center in Washington, DC.

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene H. Dortch,
Secretary, Office of the Secretary, Office of Managing Director.
[FR Doc. 2012-10634 Filed 5-2-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P