[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 227 (Tuesday, November 24, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75014-75016]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-25881]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[OMB 3060-1139, FRS 17245]


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 and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be submitted on or before December 24, 
2020.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular information collection by selecting 
``Currently under 30-day Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using 
the search function. Your comment must be submitted into 
www.reginfo.gov per the above instructions for it to be considered. In 
addition to submitting in www.reginfo.gov also send a copy of your 
comment on the proposed information collection to Nicole Ongele, FCC, 
via email to [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

[[Page 75015]]

information collection, contact Nicole Ongele at (202) 418-2991. 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 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: 3060-1139.
    Title: FCC Consumer Broadband Services Testing and Measurement.
    Form Number: N/A.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Businesses or other for-profit and individuals or 
households.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 501,020 respondents and 
501,020 responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 1 hour-200 hours.
    Frequency of Response: Biennial reporting requirement and third-
party disclosure requirement.
    Obligation to Respond: Voluntary. Statutory authority for this 
information collection is contained in the Broadband Data Improvement 
Act of 2008, Public Law 110-385, Stat 4096, 103(c)(1).
    Total Annual Burden: 46,667 hours.
    Total Annual Costs: No Cost.
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: All participation in the 
Measuring Broadband America Program is voluntary and any participant 
can decline to participate at any time. No volunteers' personally 
identifying information (PII) such as name, phone number, or street 
addresses will be transmitted to the Commission from the contractor as 
a matter of vendor policy and agency privacy policy. SamKnows maintains 
a series of administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to 
protect against the transmission of PII. At point of registration, 
individuals will be given full disclosure in a ``privacy statement'' 
highlighting what information will be collected. Fixed Broadband ISP 
Partners receive PII about volunteers to confirm the validity of the 
information against their subscription records, but will be bound by a 
non-disclosure agreement that will maintain various administrative, 
technical and physical safeguards to protect the information and limit 
its use. Mobile Broadband ISP Partners have access to five kinds of 
information, including location and time of data collection, device 
type and operating system version, cellular performance and 
characteristics, and download, upload speed and other broadband 
performance, also restricted by a non-disclosure agreement that will 
maintain various administrative, technical and physical safeguards to 
protect the information and limit its use. ISP Partners providing 
support to the testing program will likewise be bound to the same 
series of administrative, technical and physical safeguards developed 
by SamKnows. In addition, all third parties supporting the program 
directly will be bound by a ``Code of Conduct'' to ensure all 
participate and act in good faith and with other legally enforceable 
documents such as non-disclosure agreements.
    Privacy Act Impact Assessment: This information collection effects 
individuals or households. However, personally identifiable information 
(PII) such as name, phone number, or street addresses is not being 
collected by, made available to or made accessible by the Commission 
but instead by third parties including SamKnows, a third party 
contractor, and internet Service Provider (ISP) Partners.
    Needs and Uses: The Commission will submit this expiring collection 
after this 60-day comment period to the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) to obtain the full three-year clearance.
    This study's collection of information on actual speeds and 
performance of fixed and mobile broadband connections delivered to 
consumers by ISPs has been reported to be of great value to academic 
researchers, manufacturers and technology providers, broadband 
providers, public interest groups and other diverse stakeholders. 
Validation of fixed broadband subscribed speeds as opposed to actual 
speeds by participating ISPs remains unique to this program and 
provides a context for measured speeds. Mobile broadband performance 
information is measured using the FCC Speed Test app for Android and 
iOS devices to test the upload and download speeds, latency and packet 
loss, as well as the wireless performance characteristics of the 
broadband connection and the kind of handsets and versions of operating 
systems tested. Information the FCC Speed Test App (``Application'') 
collects is limited to information used to measure volunteers' mobile 
broadband service and no personally identifiable information, such as 
subscribers' name, phone number or unique identifiers associated with a 
device is collected. Software-based tools and online tools exist that 
can test consumer's broadband connections, including a set of consumer 
tools launched by the FCC in conjunction with the National Broadband 
Plan. However, these tools track speeds experienced by consumers, 
rather than speeds delivered directly to a consumer by an ISP. The 
distinction is important for supporting Agency broadband policy 
analysis, as ISPs advertise speeds and performance delivered rather 
than speeds experienced, which suffers from degradation outside of an 
ISP's control.
    No other dedicated panel of direct fixed and mobile broadband 
performance measurement using publicly documented methodologies using 
free and add-free technologies exists today in the country. The program 
will continue to support existing software-based tools and online tools 
but the focus of the program will remain the direct measurement of 
broadband performance delivered to the consumer. The collection effort 
also has specific elements focused on further network performance 
statistics, time of day parameters, and other elements affecting 
consumers' broadband experience that are not tracked elsewhere. The 
information to be confirmed by ISP Partners about their subscribers or

[[Page 75016]]

technical and market data regarding the broadband services they provide 
is unavailable from other sources.

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-25881 Filed 11-23-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P