[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 57 (Thursday, March 24, 2016)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 15647-15648]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-06683]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 51

[GN Docket No. 13-5, RM-11358; WC Docket No. 05-25, RM-10593; FCC 15-
97]


Technology Transitions, Policies and Rules Governing Retirement 
of Copper Loops by Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers and Special Access 
for Price Cap Local Exchange Carriers

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Final rule; announcement of effective date.

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SUMMARY: In this document, the Commission announces that the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) has approved, for a period of three years, 
the information collection associated with the Commission's network 
change disclosure rules pertaining to copper retirement notices. This 
document is consistent with the Emerging Wireline Networks and Services 
(EWNS) Report and Order, Order on Reconsideration, and Further Notice 
of Proposed Rulemaking, FCC 15-97, which stated that the Commission 
would publish a document in the Federal Register announcing the 
effective date of those rules.

DATES: The amendments to 47 CFR 51.325(a)(4) and (e), 51.332, and

[[Page 15648]]

51.333(b) and (c) published at 80 FR 63322, October 19, 2015, are 
effective March 24, 2016.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michele Levy Berlove, Attorney 
Advisor, Wireline Competition Bureau, at (202) 418-1477, or by email at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document announces that, on March 17, 
2016, OMB approved, for a period of three years, the information 
collection requirements relating to the network change disclosure rules 
pertaining to copper retirement notices contained in the Commission's 
EWNS Report and Order, Order on Reconsideration, and Further Notice of 
Proposed Rulemaking, FCC 15-97, published at 80 FR 63322, October 19, 
2015.
    The OMB Control Number is 3060-0741. The Commission publishes this 
notice as an announcement of the effective date of the rules. 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 Nicole Ongele, Federal Communications 
Commission, Room A-C620, 445 12th Street SW., Washington, DC 20554. 
Please include the OMB Control Number, 3060-0741, in your 
correspondence. The Commission will also accept your comments via email 
at [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 final OMB 
approval on March 17, 2016, for the information collection requirements 
contained in the modifications to the Commission's rules in 47 CFR part 
51. Under 5 CFR part 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 3060-0741.
    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: 3060-0741.
    OMB Approval Date: March 17, 2017.
    OMB Expiration Date: March 31, 2019.
    Title: Technology Transitions, GN Docket No. 13-5, et al.
    Form Number: N/A.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 5,357 respondents; 573,767 
responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 0.5-8 hours.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion reporting requirements; 
recordkeeping; third party disclosure.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. 
Statutory authority is contained in 47 U.S.C. 222 and 251.
    Total Annual Burden: 575,840 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: No cost.
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: The Commission is not 
requesting that the respondents submit confidential information to the 
FCC. Respondents may, however, request confidential treatment for 
information they believe to be confidential under 47 CFR 0.459 of the 
Commission's rules.
    Privacy Act: No impact(s).
    Needs and Uses: Section 251 of the Communications Act of 1934, as 
amended, 47 U.S.C. 251, is designed to accelerate private sector 
development and deployment of telecommunications technologies and 
services by spurring competition. Section 222(e) is also designed to 
spur competition by prescribing requirements for the sharing of 
subscriber list information. These OMB collections are designed to help 
implement certain provisions of sections 222(e) and 251, and to 
eliminate operational barriers to competition in the telecommunications 
services market. Specifically, these OMB collections will be used to 
implement (1) local exchange carriers' (``LECs'') obligations to 
provide their competitors with dialing parity and non-discriminatory 
access to certain services and functionalities; (2) incumbent local 
exchange carriers' (``ILECs'') duty to make network information 
disclosures; and (3) numbering administration. The Commission estimates 
that the total annual burden of the entire collection, as revised, is 
575,840 hours. This revision relates to a change in one of many 
components of the currently approved collection--specifically, certain 
reporting, recordkeeping and/or third party disclosure requirements 
under section 251(c)(5). In August 2015, the Commission adopted new 
rules concerning certain information collection requirements 
implemented under section 251(c)(5) of the Act, pertaining to network 
change disclosures. The changes to those rules apply specifically to a 
certain subset of network change disclosures, namely notices of planned 
copper retirements. The changes are designed to provide interconnecting 
entities adequate time to prepare their networks for the planned copper 
retirements and to ensure that consumers are able to make informed 
choices. There is also a change in the number of potential respondents 
to the rules promulgated under that section. The number of respondents 
as to the information collection requirements implemented under section 
251(c)(5) of the Act, has changed from 1,300 to 750, a decrease of 550 
respondents from the previous submission. Under section 251(f)(1) of 
the Act, rural telephone companies are exempt from the requirements of 
section 251(c) ``until (i) such company has received a bona fide 
request for interconnection, services, or network elements, and (ii) 
the State commission determines . . . that such request is not unduly 
economically burdensome, is technically feasible, and is consistent 
with section 254 . . . .'' The Commission has determined that the 
number of potential respondents set forth in the previous submission 
inadvertently failed to take this exemption into account. There are 
1,429 ILECs nationwide. Of those, 87 are non-rural ILECs and 1,342 are 
rural ILECs. The Commission estimates that of the 1,342 rural ILECs, 
679 are entitled to the exemption and 663 are not entitled to the 
exemption and thus must comply with rules promulgated under section 
251(c) of the Act, including the rules that are the subject of this 
information collection. Thus, the Commission estimates that there are 
87 (non-rural) + 663 (rural) = 750 potential respondents. The 
Commission estimates that the revision does not result in any 
additional outlays of funds for hiring outside contractors or procuring 
equipment.

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene H. Dortch,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2016-06683 Filed 3-23-16; 8:45 am]
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