[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 227 (Monday, November 25, 2013)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 70238-70239]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-28106]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 54

[WC Docket Nos. 10-90; DA 13-598]


Survey of Urban Rates

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Final rule; announcement of effective date.

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SUMMARY: In this document, the Federal Communications Commission 
(Commission) announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
has approved, until October 31, 2016, the information collection 
associated with the Commission's Connect America Fund, Order, (Order), 
released on April 3, 2013. The Commission submitted a request for 
approval of a new collection under control number 3060-1192 to the OMB 
for review and approval, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act 
(PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520). This notice is consistent with the 
Order, which stated that the Commission would publish a document in the 
Federal Register announcing the effective date of those rules once it 
receives OMB approval.

DATES: The Commission received approval for the information collection 
requirements contained in 3060-1192 on October 22, 2013. Therefore, the 
Commission announces that these requirements become effective November 
25, 2013.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Suzanne Yelen, Assistant Division 
Chief, Wireline Competition Bureau, at (202) 418-0626.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document announces that, on October 22, 
2013, OMB approved, for a period of three years, the information 
collection requirements contained in the Commission's Order, DA 13-598, 
published at 78 FR 29063, May 17, 2013. The OMB Control Number is 3060-
1192. The Commission publishes this notice as an announcement of the 
effective date of paragraphs 6, 26 and Appendix A of document DA 13-
598. If you have any comments on the burden estimates listed below, or 
how the Commission can improve the collections and reduce any burdens 
caused thereby, please contact Leslie F. Smith, Federal Communications 
Commission, Room 1-C216, 445 12th Street SW., Washington, DC 20554, or 
via email at: [email protected]. Please include the OMB Control 
Number, 3060-1192, in your correspondence. The Commission also will 
accept comments via email. Please send them to [email protected].
    To request materials in accessible formats for people with 
disabilities (Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), 
send an email to [email protected] or call the Consumer and Governmental 
Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice), (202) 418-0432 (TTY).

Synopsis

    As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 
3507), the FCC is notifying the public that it received OMB approval on 
October 22, 2013, for the information collection requirements contained 
in paragraph 6 and 26 and Appendix A of document DA 13-598.
    Under 5 CFR 1320, an agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection 
of information unless it displays a current, 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 
that does not display a current, valid OMB Control Number. The OMB 
Control Number is 3060-1192.
    The foregoing notice is required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995, Public Law 104-13, October 1, 1995, and 44 U.S.C. 3507.
    The total annual reporting burdens and costs for the respondents 
are as follows:
    OMB Control Number: 3060-1192.
    OMB Approval Date: October 22, 2013.
    OMB Expiration Date: October 31, 2016.
    Title: Survey of Urban Rates, DA 13-598.
    Form Number: N/A.
    Respondents: Providers of fixed voice and fixed broadband 
residential services.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 1,000 respondents; 1,000 
responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 3.5 hours.
    Frequency of Response: Annually.
    Obligation to Respond: Required. Statutory authority for this 
information collection is contained in 47 U.S.C. 254(b).
    Total Annual Burden: 3,500 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: $0.
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: The Commission is not 
requesting that respondents submit confidential information to the 
Commission. Also, 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: In April 2013, the Wireline Competition Bureau of 
the Federal Communications Commission adopted an Order (Order), in WC 
Docket No. 10-90; DA 13-598, 78 FR 29063, Connect America Fund. The 
Order adopts the form and content for a survey of urban rates for fixed 
voice and fixed broadband residential services for purposes of 
implementing various reforms adopted as part of the USF/ICC 
Transformation Order, 76 FR 73830, November 29, 2011. The information 
collected in this survey will be used to establish a rate floor that 
eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs) receiving high-cost loop 
support (HCLS) or frozen high-cost support must meet to receive their 
full support amounts and to help ensure that universal service support 
recipients offering fixed voice and broadband services do so at 
reasonably comparable rates to those in urban areas.
    The rate floor and comparability requirements are important 
components of the Commission's overall effort to improve accountability 
for the use of universal service funding. The rate floor will prevent 
the use of universal service

[[Page 70239]]

subsidizes to support artificially low local rates in rural areas. The 
comparability requirements will ensure that rates are reasonably 
comparable for voice as well as broadband service, between urban and 
rural, insular, and high cost areas. Rates must be reasonably 
comparable so that consumers in rural, insular, and high cost areas 
have meaningful access to these services.
    This Order requires a statistically valid sample of urban providers 
to complete a survey with information regarding the types and prices of 
their offerings. The Commission intends to implement this survey 
through an online reporting form accessible to those urban providers of 
fixed voice and broadband services that are chosen to participate. The 
Administrator, the Universal Service Administrative Company, may assist 
in administering the survey.
    In the near future, the Bureau will issue a public notice providing 
detailed instructions and announcing the deadline for the submission of 
data and providing further filing information.

Federal Communications Commission.
Rodger Woock,
Chief, Industry Analysis and Technology Division, Wireline Competition 
Bureau.
[FR Doc. 2013-28106 Filed 11-22-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P