[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 132 (Wednesday, July 14, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 37058-37059]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-14724]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 54

[GN Docket No. 20-32; FCC 20-150; FRS 37029]


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 new information collection 
requirements associated with a new or amended rule adopted in the 
Federal Communications Commission's 5G Fund Report and Order, FCC 20-
150. This document is consistent with the 5G Fund Report and Order, 
which states that the Commission will publish a document in the Federal 
Register announcing the effective date for the new or amended rule 
section.

DATES: The addition of 47 CFR 54.322(c)(4), published at 85 FR 75770 on 
November 25, 2020, is effective July 14, 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 54.322(c)(4), on June 16, 2021. This rule was 
adopted in the 5G Fund Report and Order, FCC 20-150. The Commission 
publishes this document as an announcement of the effective date for 
this new rule. 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 3060-1289. 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 June 16, 2021, for the information collection 
requirements contained in 47 CFR 54.322(c)(4). 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 
54.322(c)(4) is 3060-1289. 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: 3060-1289.
    OMB Approval Date: June 16, 2021.
    OMB Expiration Date: June 30, 2024.
    Title: Legacy Support Usage Flexibility Certification.
    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: Up to 110 respondents and 110 
responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 1.75 hours.
    Frequency of Response: One-time 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: 193 hours.
    Total Annual Cost: $16,500.
    Privacy Act Impact Assessment: No impact(s).

[[Page 37059]]

    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: The information collected 
under this collection will be made publicly available. However, to the 
extent that a respondent seeks to have certain information collected in 
response to this information collection 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: On October 27, 2020, the Commission adopted the 5G 
Fund Report and Order, FCC 20-150, in which it, among other things, 
adopted additional public interest obligations and performance 
requirements for legacy high-cost support recipients, whose broadband-
specific public interest obligations for mobile wireless services were 
not previously detailed. The public interest obligations adopted in the 
5G Fund Report and Order for each competitive eligible 
telecommunications carrier (ETC) receiving legacy high-cost support for 
mobile wireless services require that such a carrier (1) use an 
increasing percentage of its legacy support toward the deployment, 
maintenance, and operation of voice and broadband networks that support 
5G meeting the adopted performance requirements within its subsidized 
service area(s), and (2) meet specific 5G broadband service deployment 
coverage requirements and service deployment milestone deadlines that 
take into consideration the amount of legacy support the carrier 
receives. With respect to the requirement to use an increasing 
percentage of its legacy support toward the deployment, maintenance, 
and operation of voice and broadband networks that support 5G, the 
rules adopted in the 5G Fund Report and Order specify that each legacy 
support recipient must use at least one-third of the legacy support it 
receives in 2021, at least two-thirds of the legacy support it receives 
in 2022, and all of the legacy support in 2023 and beyond for these 
purposes.
    To address a concern that budgets and deployment plans for 2021 are 
largely complete, which could make it difficult for some competitive 
ETCs to achieve the 2021 support usage requirement, the Commission 
adopted a rule that affords such competitive ETCs the flexibility to 
use less than one-third of their legacy support in 2021 and make up for 
any shortfall in 2021 by proportionally increasing the requirement in 
2022 (above the two-thirds of its support the competitive ETC is 
required to spend on 5G in that year). See 47 CFR 54.322(c)(4). In 
order to take advantage of this flexibility, a competitive ETC 
receiving legacy support for mobile wireless services must submit a 
certification in which it (1) provides information regarding the 
service area(s) for which it and any affiliated mobile competitive 
ETC(s) receive legacy support and the annual amount of support they 
receive in each area; (2) indicates the total amount of legacy high-
cost support to be spent on the deployment, maintenance, and operation 
of mobile networks that provide 5G service in calendar year 2021 across 
the identified service areas; and (3) certifies that any 2021 spending 
shortfall will be made up in 2022. Only those competitive ETCs 
receiving legacy high-cost support for mobile wireless services that 
wish to avail themselves of the flexibility concerning their 2021 and 
2022 legacy high-cost support usage requirements will be required to 
respond to this information collection. The certification will be used 
by the Commission to identify how much a competitive ETC that chooses 
to avail itself of the flexibility concerning its 2021 and 2022 legacy 
high-cost support usage requirements will spend on 5G in 2021 and the 
spending shortfall it must make up in 2022, and to confirm the 
competitive ETC's commitment to make up its 2021 spending shortfall in 
2022 in accordance with its certification and the Commission's rules.

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021-14724 Filed 7-13-21; 8:45 am]
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