[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 76 (Thursday, April 22, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 21216-21217]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-08292]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 1

[GN Docket No. 20-32; FCC 20-150; FRS 21794]


Establishing a 5G Fund for Rural America

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 has approved a revision to the information 
collection requirements under OMB Control Number 3060-1166 associated 
with new or amended rules adopted in the Federal Communications 
Commission's 5G Fund Report and Order concerning the contents of 
applications to participate in competitive bidding for universal 
service support and reporting prohibited communications during the 
universal service support competitive bidding process, and that 
compliance with the rules is now required. This document is consistent 
with the 5G Fund Report and Order, FCC 20-150, which states that the 
Commission will publish a document in the Federal Register announcing 
the effective date for these new or amended rule sections and revise 
the rules accordingly.

DATES: The amendments to 47 CFR 1.21001(b)(1) through (13) and (e) and 
1.21002(e) and (f), published at 85 FR 75770 on November 25, 2020, are 
effective April 22, 2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Valerie Barrish, Auctions Division, 
Office of Economics and Analytics, at (202) 418-0354 or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document announces that the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) approved the information collection 
requirements in 47 CFR 1.21001(b)(1) through (13) and (e) and 
1.21002(e) and (f), on April 14, 2021. These rules were adopted in the 
5G Fund Report and Order, FCC 20-150. The Commission publishes this 
document as an announcement of the effective date for these new or 
amended rules. OMB approval for all other new or amended rules adopted 
in the 5G Fund Report and Order for which OMB approval is required will 
be requested, and the effective date for those rules will be announced 
following OMB's approval. See 85 FR 75770 (Nov. 25, 2020).
    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 Cathy Williams, Federal Communications 
Commission, Room 3.317, 45 L Street NE, Washington, DC 20554, regarding 
OMB Control Number 3060-1166. Please include the OMB Control Number 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 Commission is notifying the public that it received final 
OMB approval on April 14, 2021, for the information collection 
requirements contained in 47 CFR 1.21001(b)(1) through (13) and (e) and 
1.21002(e) and (f). 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 for the information collection requirements in 47 CFR 
1.21001(b)(1) through (13) and (e) and 1.21002(e) and (f) is 3060-1166.
    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: 3060-1166.
    OMB Approval Date: April 14, 2021.
    OMB Expiration Date: April 30, 2024.
    Title: Section 1.21001, Participation in Competitive Bidding for 
Support; Section 1.21002, Prohibition of Certain Communications During 
the Competitive Bidding Process.
    Form Number: N/A.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities, not-for-profit 
institutions, and state, local or tribal governments.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 750 respondents; 750 
responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 1.5 hours.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion reporting requirement.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. 
Statutory authority for this information collection is contained in 47 
U.S.C. 154, 254 and 303(r).
    Total Annual Burden: 1,125 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: No cost.
    Privacy Act Impact Assessment: No impact(s).
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: Information collected in each 
application to participate in an auction for universal service support 
will be made available for public inspection, and the Commission is not 
requesting that respondents submit confidential information to the 
Commission as part of the pre-auction application process. However, to 
the extent that a respondent seeks to have certain information 
collected in an application to participate in an auction for universal 
service support or in a report of a prohibited communication withheld 
from public inspection, the respondent may request confidential 
treatment of such information pursuant to Sec.  0.459 of the 
Commission's rules, 47 CFR 0.459.
    Needs and Uses: The information required by Sec.  1.21001 of the 
Commission's rules that is collected under this information collection 
is used by the Commission to determine whether applicants are eligible 
to participate in auctions for Universal Service Fund support. The 
reports of prohibited communications made or received by an auction 
applicant required by Sec.  1.21002 of the Commission's rules that are 
collected under this information collection enable the Commission to 
ensure that no bidder gains an unfair advantage over other bidders in 
its auctions for universal service support and thus enhance the 
competitiveness and fairness of Commission's auctions for universal 
service support.
    On November 18, 2011, the Commission released an order 
comprehensively reforming and modernizing the universal service and

[[Page 21217]]

intercarrier compensation systems to ensure that robust, affordable 
voice and broadband service, both fixed and mobile, are available to 
Americans throughout the nation. Connect America Fund et al., Order and 
Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, FCC 11-161 (USF/ICC 
Transformation Order) (76 FR 73830 (Nov. 29, 2011) and 76 FR 78384 
(Dec. 16, 2011)). In the USF/ICC Transformation Order, the Commission, 
among other things, created (1) the Connect America Fund (CAF), to help 
make broadband available to homes, businesses, and community anchor 
institutions in areas that do not, or would not otherwise, have 
broadband, (2) the Mobility Fund, to ensure the availability of mobile 
broadband networks in areas where a private-sector business case, (3) 
the Remote Areas Fund (RAF), to ensure that Americans living in the 
most remote areas in the nation, where the cost of deploying 
traditional terrestrial broadband networks is extremely high, can 
obtain affordable access through alternative technology platforms, 
including satellite and unlicensed wireless services. The USF/ICC 
Transformation Order directed that support under CAF Phase II, the 
Mobility Fund, and the RAF be awarded by competitive bidding. The 
Commission adopted rules to implement the reforms it adopted in the 
USF/ICC Transformation Order, including rules in part 1, subpart AA, of 
the Commission's rules governing competitive bidding for universal 
service support generally. See 47 CFR 1.21001-1.21004.
    On October 27, 2020, the Commission adopted a Report and Order in 
which it, among other things, amended its existing part 1, subpart AA, 
general universal service competitive bidding rules to codify policies 
and procedures applicable to the universal service auction application 
process that have been adopted in its recent universal service 
auctions, better align provisions in the universal service competitive 
bidding rules with like provisions in the Commission's spectrum auction 
rules, and make other updates for consistency, clarification, and other 
purposes that would apply in all universal service auctions. See 
Establishing a 5G Fund for Rural America, Report and Order, FCC 20-150 
(5G Fund Report and Order). The amended part 1, subpart AA, rules 
adopted in the 5G Fund Report and Order apply to applicants seeking to 
participate in future Commission auctions for universal service 
support.

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021-08292 Filed 4-21-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P