[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 21 (Friday, January 31, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5404-5405]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-01982]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION


Information Collection Being Submitted to the Office of 
Management and Budget for Review and Approval

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: 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; the 
accuracy of the Commission's burden estimate; ways to enhance the 
quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; 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 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 March 3, 2014. 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 Benish Shah, 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: Benish Shah, Office of Managing 
Director, (202) 418-7866.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    OMB Control Number: 3060-1139.
    Title: FCC Consumer Broadband Services Testing and Measurement.
    Form No.: N/A.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Individuals or households; business or other for-
profit; and state, local or tribal government.
    Number of Respondents: 501,020 respondents; 501,020 responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 1 to 200 hours.
    Frequency of Response: Biennial reporting requirement and third 
party disclosure requirement.
    Obligation to Respond: Voluntary. Statutory authority for this 
information collection is contained in the Broadband Data Improvement 
Act of 2008, Public Law 110-385, Stat 4096,
    103(c)(1).
    Total Annual Burden: 46,667 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: N/A.
    Privacy Act Impact Assessment: This information collection affects 
individuals or households. However, personally identifiable information 
(PII) is not being collected by, made available to or made accessible 
by the Commission but instead by third parties including SamKnows, a 
third party contractor, and Internet Service Provider (ISP) Partners.
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: No personally identifying 
information (PII) will be transmitted to the Commission from the 
contractor as a matter of vendor policy and agency privacy policy. 
SamKnows maintains a series of administrative, technical, and physical 
safeguards to protect against the transmission of PII. At point of 
registration, individuals will be given full disclosure in a ``privacy 
statement'' highlighting what information will be collected. ISP 
Partners will receive PII about volunteers to confirm the validity of 
the information against their subscription records, but will be bound 
by a non-disclosure agreement that will maintain various 
administrative, technical and physical safeguards to protect the 
information and limit its use. ISP Partners providing support to the 
testing program will likewise be bound to the same series of 
administrative, technical and physical safeguards developed by 
SamKnows. In addition all third parties supporting the program directly 
will be bound by a ``Code of Conduct'' to ensure all participate and 
act in good faith and with other legally enforceable documents such as 
non-disclosure agreements.
    Needs and Uses: The Commission will submit this revised information 
collection to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) order to obtain 
the full three year clearance from them. The Commission is reporting a 
program change (there has been a program change in the reporting 
requirements, the number of respondents increased from 11,016 to 
46,667). The Commission

[[Page 5405]]

is requesting OMB approval for this revision.
    The Broadband Data Improvement Act of 2008, Public Law 110-385, 
Stat 4096, 103(c)(1) directs the Commission to collect information on 
the type of technology used to provide broadband to consumers, the 
price of such services, actual transmission speeds, and the reasons for 
non-adoption of broadband service.
This collection of information is necessary to complete research done 
for the Broadband Plan on key consumer issues including transparency 
and actual speeds and performance of broadband service and broadband 
usage and performance in schools and libraries.
The Commission's Office of Engineering and Technology (OET), Office of 
Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis (OSPPA) and Consumer and 
Governmental Affairs Bureau (CGB) and other Commission entities use the 
information collected under this study to assess what actual broadband 
speeds and performance consumers are currently receiving from 
providers. Our purpose is to measure the speed of broadband services 
provided by ISPs across service packages and geographies, rather than 
to assess the differences in broadband performance received by 
demographics. This assessment will help the Commission create standards 
for broadband measurements, assess the validity of ISP performance 
claims, and inform future steps to increasing transparency and consumer 
awareness of broadband service.

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene H. Dortch,
Secretary, Office of the Secretary, Office of Managing Director.
[FR Doc. 2014-01982 Filed 1-30-14; 8:45 am]
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