[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 161 (Tuesday, August 22, 2017)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 39715-39716]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-17731]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Parts 0, 1, 15, 20, and 54

[GN Docket No. 16-46; DA 17-664]


Connect2HealthFCC Task Force Announces Upcoming Virtual Listening 
Sessions on Broadband Health Divide

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Extension of comment deadline.

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SUMMARY: In this document, the Connect2HealthFCC Task Force (Task 
Force) of the Federal Communications Commission (Commission), extends 
the deadline for interested parties to submit comments and reply 
comments in response to the notice issued on April 24, 2017, on FCC 
Seeks Comment and Data on Actions to Accelerate Adoption and 
Accessibility of Broadband-Enabled Health Care Solutions and Advanced 
Technologies (GN Docket No. 16-46; FCC 17-46). In addition, the Task 
Force announces that it will be convening several virtual listening 
sessions to more efficiently facilitate additional input on the issues 
raised in the aforementioned notice.

DATES: Submit comments and reply comment on or before September 29, 
2017.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments and reply comments, identified by GN 
Docket No. 16-46, by any of the following methods:
     Electronic Filers: Comments may be filed electronically 
using the Internet by accessing the ECFS: http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/ 
(click the ``submit a filing'' tab). Filers should follow the 
instructions provided on the Web site for submitting comments. For ECFS 
filers, in completing the transmittal screen, filers should include 
their full name, U.S. Postal service mailing address, and the 
applicable docket number: GN Docket No. 16-46.
     Paper Filers: Parties who choose to file by paper must 
file an original and one copy of each filing. Filings can be sent by 
hand or messenger delivery, by commercial overnight courier, or by 
first-class or overnight U.S. Postal Service mail. All filings must be 
addressed to the Commission's Secretary, Marlene H. Dortch, Office of 
the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission. All hand-delivered or 
messenger-delivered paper filings for the Commission's Secretary must 
be delivered to FCC Headquarters at 445 12th St. SW., Room TW-A325, 
Washington, DC 20554. All hand deliveries must be held together with 
rubber bands or fasteners. Any envelopes must be disposed of before 
entering the building. The filing hours are 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. 
Commercial overnight mail (other than U.S. Postal Service Express Mail 
and Priority Mail) must be sent to 9300 East Hampton Drive, Capitol 
Heights, MD 20743. U.S. Postal Service first-class mail, Express Mail, 
and Priority Mail must be addressed to 445 12th Street SW., Washington, 
DC 20554.
    Additional Filing Instruction: To the extent feasible, parties 
should email a copy of their comments to the Task Force's email box, at 
[email protected]. In the email, please insert ``Comments in GN 
Docket No. 16-46'' in the subject line. Copies of all filings will be 
available in GN Docket No. 16-46 through ECFS and are also available 
for public inspection and copying during regular business hours at the 
FCC Reference Information Center, Portals II, 445 12th St. SW., Room 
CY-A257, Washington, DC 20554, telephone (202) 418-0270. Documents will 
be available electronically in ASCII, Microsoft Word, and/or Adobe 
Acrobat.
    People with Disabilities: 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) or 
202-418-0432 (TTY). Contact the FCC to request reasonable 
accommodations for filing comments (accessible format documents, sign 
language interpreters, CART, etc.) by email at: [email protected]; phone: 
202-418-0530 or TTY: 202-418-0432.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ben Bartolome, Special Counsel, 
Connect2HealthFCC Task Force, at (770) 935-3383, or via email at 
[email protected] (inserting ``Question re GN Docket No 16-46'' in 
the subject line).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commission's 
document, DA 17-664, released on July 21, 2017. The complete text of 
this document is available on the Internet at the Commission's Web 
site, at https://www.fcc.gov/document/c2h-hold-listening-sessions-bridging-broadband-health-divide. The full text is also available for 
public inspection and copying from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time 
(ET) Monday through Thursday or from 8:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Fridays 
in the FCC Reference Information Center, 445 12th Street SW., Room CY-
A257, Washington, DC 20554 (Telephone: 202-418-0270; TTY: 202-418-
2555).
    In document DA 17-664, the Federal Communications Commission's 
Connect2Health Task Force announces that it will convene several 
virtual listening sessions over several weeks (i.e., during the week of 
August 7, and also the weeks of September 11, 18, and 25, 2017) to more 
efficiently facilitate targeted input on broadband health issues 
(including on the rural/urban gap and other digital divide issues) from 
non-traditional stakeholders and those outside the Washington, DC area. 
The instructions for participating in these sessions are provided in 
the notice. This effort specifically relates to the Task Force's 
development of recommendations on critical regulatory, policy, 
technical, and infrastructure issues concerning the emerging broadband-
enabled health and care ecosystem described in the April 24, 2017 
document FCC 17-46, issued in GN Docket No. 16-46 (FCC Seeks Comment 
and Data on Actions to Accelerate Adoption and Accessibility of 
Broadband-Enabled Health Care Solutions and Advanced Technologies).
    This document also announces that the formal comment period for GN 
Docket No. 16-46 will remain open until September 29, 2017, to give 
interested parties an opportunity to file additional comments and 
information following the completion of the aforementioned virtual 
listening sessions (noting that the initial deadlines for filing 
comments and reply comments in response to the notice in GN Docket No. 
16-46 were May 24, 2017, and June 8, 2017, respectively). Further, 
parties have also expressed interest in submitting comments and 
suggestions for enhancements related to the Mapping Broadband Health in

[[Page 39716]]

America platform (available on the Commission's Web site at 
www.fcc.gov/health/maps) released on June 8, 2017; as such, this 
extension will facilitate such filings in GN Docket No. 16-46.

Federal Communications Commission.
Ryan Yates,
Attorney Advisor, Office of the General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2017-17731 Filed 8-21-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6712-01-P