[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 141 (Monday, July 23, 2018)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 34793-34794]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-15652]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 61

[WC Docket Nos. 16-143, 05-25, GN Docket No. 13-5 and RM-10593; FCC 17-
43]


Business Data Services in an Internet Protocol Environment; 
Technology Transitions; Special Access for Price Cap Local Exchange 
Carriers; AT&T Corporation Petition for Rulemaking To Reform Regulation 
of Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier Rates for Interstate Special Access 
Services

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, 
an information collection associated with the Commission's Business 
Data Services Report and Order, FCC 17-43, which, among other things, 
required that by August 1, 2020, price cap incumbent LECs must remove 
all business data services that are no longer subject to price cap 
regulation from their interstate tariffs. The Order also required that, 
by the same deadline, competitive LECs must remove all business data 
services from their interstate tariffs. This document is consistent 
with the Order, which stated that the Commission would publish a 
document in the Federal Register announcing the effective date of these 
rules.

DATES: The amendments to 47 CFR 61.201 and 61.203, published at June 2, 
2017, 82 FR 25660, are effective July 23, 2018.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Kehoe, Pricing Policy 
Division, Wireline Competition Bureau, at (202) 418-7122, or email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document announces that, on June 19, 
2018, OMB approved, for a period of three years, the information 
collection requirement relating to sections 61.201 and 61.203 of the 
Commission's rules, as contained in the Commission's Business Data 
Services Report and Order, FCC 17-43, published at 82 FR 25660, June 2, 
2017. The OMB Control Number is 3060-0298. The Commission publishes 
this document 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 1-A620, 445 12th Street SW, Washington, DC 20554. 
Please include the OMB Control Number, 3060-0400, 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 June 19, 2018, for the information collection requirements 
contained in the modifications to the Commission's rules in 47 CFR part 
61. 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 3060-0298.
    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: 3060-0298.
    OMB Approval Date: June 19, 2018.
    OMB Expiration Date: June 30, 2021.
    Title: Part 61, Tariffs (Other than the Tariff Review Plan).
    Form Number: N/A.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 2,840 respondents; 5,543 
responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 30-50 hours.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion, annual, biennial, and one-time 
reporting requirements.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. 
Statutory authority for this information collection (IC) is contained 
in 47 U.S.C. 151-155, 201-205, 208, 251-271, 403, 502, and 503 of the 
Communications Act of 1934, as amended.
    Total Annual Burden: 195,890 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: $1,369,000.
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: Respondents are not being 
asked to submit confidential information to the Commission. If the 
Commission requests respondents to submit information which respondents 
believe are confidential, respondents may request confidential 
treatment of such information under 47 CFR 0.459 of the Commission's 
rules.
    Privacy Act: No impact(s).
    Needs and Uses: On April 20, 2017, the Commission adopted the 
Business Data Services Report and Order, FCC 17-43, which establishes a 
new regulatory framework for business data services. Under this 
framework, price cap incumbent LECs are no longer subject to price cap 
regulation of their: (a) packet-based business data services; (b) time-
division multiplexing (TDM) transport business data services; (c) TDM 
business data services with bandwidth in excess of a DS3; and (d) DS1 
and DS3 end user channel terminations, and other lower-bandwidth TDM 
business data services, to the extent a price cap incumbent LEC 
provides them in counties deemed competitive under the Commission's 
competitive market test or in counties for which the price cap 
incumbent LEC had obtained Phase II pricing flexibility under the 
Commission's prior regulatory regime. The Business Data Services Report 
and Order required that, within 36 months of its effective date (i.e., 
by August 1, 2020), price cap incumbent LECs must remove all business 
data services that are no longer subject to price cap regulation from 
their interstate tariffs. The Order also required that, by that same 
deadline, competitive LECs must remove all business data services from 
their interstate tariffs.
    The information collected through the carriers' tariffs is used by 
the Commission and state commissions to determine whether services 
offered are just and reasonable, as the Act requires. The tariffs and 
any supporting documentation are examined in order to

[[Page 34794]]

determine if the services are offered in a just and reasonable manner.

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2018-15652 Filed 7-20-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6712-01-P