[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 128 (Tuesday, July 5, 2016)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 43523-43524]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-15819]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 1

[GN Docket No. 12-268, WT Docket Nos. 14-70, 05-211, RM-11395; FCC 15-
80]


Updating Competitive Bidding Rules

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) approved on June 22, 2016, a revision to an 
approved information collection to implement modified collection 
requirements on FCC Form 601, Application for Radio Service 
Authorization, contained in the Part 1 Report and Order, Updating 
Competitive Bidding Rules, FCC 15-80. This document is consistent with 
the Report and Order, which stated that the Commission would publish a 
document in the Federal Register announcing OMB approval and the 
effective date of the requirements.

DATES: 47 CFR 1.2110(j), published at 80 FR 56764 on September 18, 2015 
and revised FCC Form 601, are effective on July 5, 2016.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cathy Williams, 
[email protected], (202) 418-2918.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document announces that, on June 22, 
2016, OMB approved the information collection requirements for FCC Form 
601, FCC Application for Radio Service Authorization and 47 CFR 
1.2110(j), which was contained in Report and Order, FCC 15-80. The OMB 
Control Number is 3060-0798. The Commission publishes this document as 
an announcement of the effective date of the requirements. 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 Cathy Williams, Federal Communications 
Commission, Room 1-C823, 445 12th Street SW., Washington, DC 20554. 
Please include the OMB Control Number, 3060-0798, in your 
correspondence. The Commission will also accept your comments via the 
Internet if you 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 
June 22, 2016, for the information collection requirements contained in 
information collection 3060-0798. 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 3060-0798. The foregoing 
document is required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Pub. L. 
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: 3060-0798.
    OMB Approval Date: June 22, 2016.
    OMB Expiration Date: June 30, 2019.
    Title: FCC Application for Radio Service Authorization: Wireless 
Telecommunications Bureau
    Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau.
    Form Number: FCC Form 601.
    Respondents: Individuals and households; Business or other for 
profit entities; Not for profit institutions; and State, local or 
tribal government.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 253,320 respondents and 
253,320 responses.
    Estimated Hours per Response: 0.5-1.25 hours.
    Frequency of Response: Recordkeeping requirement, third party 
disclosure requirement, On occasion reporting requirement and periodic 
reporting requirement.
    Total Annual Burden: 222,055 hours.
    Total Annual Costs: $71,306,250.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. The 
statutory

[[Page 43524]]

authority for this collection of information is contained in 47 U.S.C. 
151, 152, 154, 154(i), 155(c), 157, 201, 202, 208, 214, 301, 302a, 303, 
307, 308, 309, 310, 311, 314, 316, 319, 324, 331, 332, 333, 336, 534, 
535 and 554.
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: There is no need for 
confidentiality required with this collection of information.
    Privacy Impact Assessment: Yes.
    Needs and Uses: On July 20, 2015, the Commission released the Part 
1 R&O in which it updated many of its Part 1 competitive bidding rules 
(See Updating Part 1 Competitive Bidding Rules; Expanding the Economic 
and Innovation Opportunities of Spectrum Through Incentive Auctions; 
Petition of DIRECTV Group, Inc. and EchoStar LLC for Expedited 
Rulemaking to Amend Section 1.2105(a)(2)(xi) and 1.2106(a) of the 
Commission's Rules and/or for Interim Conditional Waiver; 
Implementation of the Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act and 
Modernization of the Commission's Competitive Bidding Rules and 
Procedures, Report and Order, Order on Reconsideration of the First 
Report and Order, Third Order on Reconsideration of the Second Report 
and Order, and Third Report and Order, FCC 15-80, 30 FCC Rcd 7493 
(2015), modified by Erratum, 30 FCC Rcd 8518 (2015) (Part 1 R&O)). Of 
relevance to the information collection at issue here, the Commission: 
(1) Implemented a new general prohibition on the filing of auction 
applications by entities controlled by the same individual or set of 
individuals (but with a limited exception for qualifying rural wireless 
partnerships); (2) modified the eligibility requirements for small 
business benefits, and updated the standardized schedule of small 
business sizes, including the gross revenues thresholds used to 
determine eligibility; (3) established a new bidding credit for 
eligible rural service providers; (4) adopted targeted attribution 
rules to prevent the unjust enrichment of ineligible entities; and (5) 
adopted rules prohibiting joint bidding arrangements with limited 
exceptions. The updated Part 1 rules apply to applicants seeking 
licenses and permits.
    Additionally, on June 2, 2014, the Commission released the Mobile 
Spectrum Holdings R&O, in which the Commission updated its spectrum 
screen and established rules for its upcoming auctions of low-band 
spectrum. Of relevance to the information collection at issue here, the 
Commission stated that it could reserve spectrum in order to ensure 
against excessive concentration in holdings of below-1-GHz spectrum (In 
the Matter of Policies Regarding Mobile Spectrum Holdings, Expanding 
the Economic and Innovation Opportunities of Spectrum Through Incentive 
Auctions, FCC 14-63, Report and Order, 29 FCC Rcd 6133, 6190, para. 135 
(2014) (Mobile Spectrum Holdings R&O). See also Application Procedures 
for Broadcast Incentive Auction Scheduled to Begin on March 29, 2016; 
Technical Formulas for Competitive Bidding, Public Notice, 30 FCC Rcd 
11034, Appendix 3 (WTB 2015); Wireless Telecommunications Bureau 
Releases Updated List of Reserve-Eligible Nationwide Service Providers 
in each PEA for the Broadcast Incentive Auction, Public Notice, AU No. 
14-252 (WTB 2016).
    The Commission also revised the currently approved collection of 
information under OMB Control Number 3060-0798 to permit the collection 
of the additional information for Commission licenses and permits, 
pursuant to the rules and information collection requirements adopted 
by the Commission in the Part 1 R&O and the Mobile Spectrum Holdings 
R&O. As part of the collection, the Commission is now approved for the 
information collection and recordkeeping requirements associated with 
47 CFR 1.2110(j), 1.2112(b)(2)(iii), 1.2112(b)(2)(v), 
1.2112(b)(2)(vii), and 1.2112(b)(2)(viii). Also, in certain 
circumstances, the Commission requires the applicant to provide copies 
of their agreements and/or submit exhibits.
    In addition, the Commission is now approved for various other, non-
substantive editorial/consistency edits and updates to FCC Form 601 
that correct inconsistent capitalization of words and other 
typographical errors, and better align the text on the form with the 
text in the Commission rules both generally and in connection with 
recent non-substantive, organizational amendments to the Commission's 
rules.

Federal Communications Commission.
Gloria J. Miles,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2016-15819 Filed 7-1-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6712-01-P