[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 13 (Tuesday, January 21, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3378-3379]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-00863]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[OMB 3060-0816; FRS 16417]


Information Collection Being Submitted for Review and Approval to 
Office of Management and Budget

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burdens, 
as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, the Federal 
Communications Commission (FCC or the Commission) invites the general 
public and other Federal Agencies to take this opportunity to comment 
on the following information collection. Pursuant to the Small Business 
Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, the FCC seeks specific comment on how it 
might ``further reduce the information collection burden for small 
business concerns with fewer than 25 employees.'' The Commission 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 comments should be submitted on or before February 20, 
2020. If you anticipate that you will be submitting comments but find 
it difficult to do so with the period of time allowed by this notice, 
you should advise the contacts listed below as soon as possible.

ADDRESSES: Direct all PRA comments to Nicholas A. Fraser, OMB, via 
email [email protected]; and to Cathy Williams, FCC, via 
email [email protected] and to [email protected]. Include in the 
comments the OMB control number as shown in the SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information or copies 
of the information collection, contact Cathy Williams at (202) 418-
2918. To view a copy of this information collection request (ICR) 
submitted to OMB: (1) Go to the web page http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain, (2) look for the section of the web page called ``Currently 
Under Review,'' (3) click on the downward-pointing arrow in the 
``Select Agency'' box below the ``Currently Under Review'' heading, (4) 
select ``Federal Communications Commission'' from the list of agencies 
presented in the ``Select Agency'' box, (5) click the ``Submit'' button 
to the right of the ``Select Agency'' box, (6) when the list of FCC 
ICRs currently under review appears, look for the Title of this ICR and 
then click on the ICR Reference Number. A copy of the FCC submission to 
OMB will be displayed.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As part of its continuing effort to reduce 
paperwork burdens, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 
1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), the FCC invited the general public and 
other Federal Agencies to take this opportunity to comment on the 
following information collection. Comments are requested concerning: 
(a) 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; (b) the accuracy 
of the Commission's burden estimates; (c) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility, and clarity of the information collected; and (d) ways to 
minimize the burden of the collection of information on the 
respondents, including the use of

[[Page 3379]]

automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology. Pursuant to the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 
2002, Public Law 107-198, see 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(4), the FCC seeks 
specific comment on how it might ``further reduce the information 
collection burden for small business concerns with fewer than 25 
employees.''
    OMB Control Number: 3060-0816.
    Title: Local Telephone Competition and Broadband Reporting, Report 
and Order, FCC Form 477, (WC Docket No. 19-195, WC Docket No, 11-10, 
FCC 19-79).
    Form Number: FCC Form 477.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities; not-for-profit 
institutions; and state, local, or tribal governments.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 2,515 respondents; 5,030 
responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 387 hours (average).
    Frequency of Response: Semi-annual reporting requirement.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. 
Statutory authority for this information collection is contained in 47 
U.S.C. 4(i), 201, 218-220, 251-252, 271, 303(r), 332, and 403 of the 
Communications Act of 1934, as amended, and in section 706 of the 
Telecommunications Act of 1996, as amended, codified in section 1302 of 
the Broadband Data Improvement Act, 47 U.S.C. 1302.
    Total Annual Burden: 1,946,610 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: No cost.
    Privacy Act Impact Assessment: No impact(s).
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: The Commission will no longer 
treat as confidential service providers' minimum advertised or expected 
speed data for mobile broadband services. Thus, provider-specific 
coverage data will be publicly released for all subsequent Form 477 
filings. This action is necessary to ensure that consumers can easily 
use the information that is disclosed to the public, including minimum 
advertised or expected speed data, because such information is only 
beneficial if consumers know where service coverage is available.
    Needs and Uses: After the 60-day comment period expires, the 
Commission will submit the revised information collection to the Office 
of Management and Budget (OMB) to obtain a full three-year clearance.
    The revisions to the information collection are necessitated by a 
Report and Order in WC Docket Nos. 19-195 and 11-10, FCC 19-79, adopted 
on August 1, 2019. In this Order, the Commission makes targeted changes 
to the existing Form 477 data collection to reduce reporting burdens 
for all filers and incorporate new technologies.
    The Order adopts the 5G-NR (New Radio) technology standards 
developed by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) with Release 
15 and requires providers to submit 5G deployment data that meet the 
specifications of Release 15 (or any successor release that may be 
adopted by the Commission's Bureaus). The Order also requires mobile 
providers to submit broadband and voice subscriber data at the census-
tract level based on the subscriber's place of primary use for postpaid 
subscribers and based on the subscriber's telephone number for prepaid 
and resold subscribers. These changes are necessary because the 
deployment data collected on Form 477 are no longer sufficient for 
targeting universal service funds. The actions to improve the Form 477 
data collection are designed to increase the usefulness of the 
information to the Commission, Congress, the industry, and the public.
    The Order reduces the burden on broadband providers by removing the 
requirement that facilities-based providers submit separate coverage 
maps depicting their broadband network coverage areas for each 
transmission technology and each frequency band. It also modifies the 
requirement that mobile broadband providers report coverage information 
for each technology deployed in their networks by reducing the number 
of categories from nine to four. The Order eliminates the requirement 
that facilities-based providers submit a list of census tracts in which 
the provider advertises its mobile wireless broadband service and in 
which the service is available to actual and potential subscribers. 
Finally, the Order removes the requirement that fixed providers 
offering business/enterprise/government services to report the maximum 
downstream and upstream contractual or guaranteed data throughput rate 
(committed information rate) available in each reported census block.
    As part of these revisions to the Form 477 data collection, the 
Commission is requesting approval of certain changes to the form and 
the related instructions. These changes are necessary to streamline the 
filing process, implement revisions to the data collection, eliminate 
burdensome filings requirements, and increase the usefulness of the 
information to the Commission, Congress, the industry, and the public.

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-00863 Filed 1-17-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6712-01-P