[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 42 (Friday, March 2, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8989-8991]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-04223]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[OMB 3060-0999]


Information Collection Being Reviewed by the Federal 
Communications Commission

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

[[Page 8990]]


ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burdens, 
and as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), the 
Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) invites the 
general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to 
comment on the following information collections. 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 collection burden on 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 Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) control number. No person shall be subject to any penalty for 
failing to comply with a collection of information subject to the PRA 
that does not display a valid OMB control number.

DATES: Written PRA comments should be submitted on or before May 1, 
2018. If you anticipate that you will be submitting comments, but find 
it difficult to do so within the period of time allowed by this notice, 
you should advise the contact listed below as soon as possible.

ADDRESSES: Direct all PRA comments to Cathy Williams, FCC, via email 
[email protected] and to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information about the 
information collection, contact Cathy Williams at (202) 418-2918.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    OMB Control No.: 3060-0999.
    Title: Hearing Aid Compatibility Status Report and Section 20.19, 
Hearing Aid-Compatible Mobile Handsets (Hearing Aid Compatibility Act).
    Form Number: FCC Form 655.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities.
    Number of Respondents: 934 respondents; 934 responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 13 hours per response (average).
    Frequency of Response: On occasion and annual reporting 
requirements and third party disclosure requirement.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. 
Statutory authority for this information collection is contained in 47 
U.S.C. Sections 151, 154(i), 157, 160, 201, 202, 208, 214, 301, 303, 
308, 309(j), 310 and 610 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended.
    Total Annual Burden: 12,140 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: No costs.
    Privacy Impact Assessment: No impact(s).
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: Information requested in the 
reports may include confidential information. However, covered entities 
are allowed to request that such materials submitted to the Commission 
be withheld from public inspection.
    Needs and Uses: The Commission will submit this information 
collection as a revision to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
after this 60-day comment period to obtain the full three-year 
clearance for the collection. The revision is necessary to implement 
the final rules promulgated in the 2015 Fourth Report and Order, FCC 
15-155 (Fourth Report and Order), which expanded the scope of the rules 
due to a shift from Commercial Mobile Radio Services (CMRS) to digital 
mobile service. We estimate that there will be a small increase in the 
number of respondents/responses, total annual burden hours, and total 
annual cost from the previously approved estimates.
    The collection is necessary to implement certain disclosure 
requirements that are part of the Commission's wireless hearing aid 
compatibility rule. In a Report and Order in WT Docket No. 01-309, FCC 
03-168, adopted and released in September 2003, implementing a mandate 
under the Hearing Aid Compatibility Act of 1988, the Commission 
required digital wireless phone manufacturers and service providers to 
make certain digital wireless phones capable of effective use with 
hearing aids, label certain phones they sold with information about 
their compatibility with hearing aids, and report to the Commission (at 
first every six months, then on an annual basis) on the numbers and 
types of hearing aid-compatible phones they were producing or offering 
to the public. These reporting requirements were subsequently amended 
on several occasions, and the existing, OMB-approved collection under 
this OMB control number includes these modifications.
    On November 19, 2015, the Commission adopted final rules in a 
Fourth Report and Order, FCC 15-155 (Fourth Report and Order), that, 
among other changes, expanded the scope of the Commission's hearing aid 
compatibility provisions to cover handsets used with any digital 
terrestrial mobile service that enables two-way real-time voice 
communications among members of the public or a substantial portion of 
the public, including through the use of pre-installed software 
applications. Prior to 2018, the hearing aid compatibility provisions 
were limited only to handsets used with two-way switched voice or data 
services classified as Commercial Mobile Radio Service, and only to the 
extent they were provided over networks meeting certain architectural 
requirements that enable frequency reuse and seamless handoff. As a 
result of the Fourth Report and Order, beginning January 1, 2018, all 
device manufacturers and Tier I carriers that offer handsets falling 
under the expanded scope of covered handsets are required to comply 
with the Commission's hearing aid compatibility provisions, including 
annual reporting requirements on FCC Form 655. For other service 
providers that are not Tier I carriers, the expanded scope of the 
Commission's hearing aid compatibility provisions applies beginning 
April 1, 2018.
    Following release of the Fourth Report and Order, the Commission is 
required to amend the FCC Form 655 to reflect the newly expanded scope 
of handsets covered by the hearing aid compatibility provisions, as 
well as to capture information regarding existing disclosure 
requirements clarified by the Commission in the Fourth Report and 
Order. As a consequence of the Fourth Report and Order, FCC Form 655 
filing and other requirements will apply to those newly-covered 
handsets offered by device manufacturers and service providers that 
have already been reporting annually on their compliance with the 
Commission's hearing aid compatibility provisions, as well to any 
device manufacturers and service providers that were previously exempt 
because they did not offer any covered handsets or services prior to 
2018.
    As a result, the Commission is requesting a revision of this 
collection in order to implement the final rules promulgated in the 
Fourth Report and Order, which expanded the scope of the rules due to a 
shift from Commercial Mobile Radio Services (CMRS) to digital mobile 
service. We estimate that the expanded scope will increase the 
potential number of respondents subject

[[Page 8991]]

to this collection and correspondingly increase the responses and 
burden hours. The minor language changes to the instructions to FCC 
Form 655 and to the form itself clarifying this expanded scope will 
help the Commission compile data and monitor compliance with the 
current version of the hearing aid compatibility rules while making 
more complete and accessible information available to consumers.

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene H. Dortch,
Secretary, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2018-04223 Filed 3-1-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6712-01-P