Information Collections Being Reviewed by the Federal Communications Commission Under Delegated Authority

AGENCY:

Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION:

Notice and request for comments.

SUMMARY:

As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burdens, and 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. Comments are requested concerning: 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; the accuracy of the Commission's burden estimate; ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; 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; and ways to further reduce the information collection burden on small business concerns with fewer than 25 employees. The FCC may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid 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 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number.

DATES:

Written PRA comments should be submitted on or before July 17, 2017. If you anticipate that you will be submitting comments, but find it difficult to do so within the period of time allowed by this notice, you should advise the contact listed below as soon as possible.

ADDRESSES:

Direct all PRA comments to Nicole Ongele, FCC, via email PRA@fcc.gov and to Nicole.Ongele@fcc.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

For additional information about the information collection, contact Nicole Ongele at (202) 418-2991.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burdens, and as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on the following information collections. Comments are requested concerning: 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; the accuracy of the Commission's burden estimate; ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; 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; and ways to further reduce the information collection burden on small business concerns with fewer than 25 employees.

OMB Control Number: 3060-0704.

Title: Sections 42.10, 42.11, 64.1900 and Section 254(g): Policies and Rules Concerning the Interstate, Interexchange Marketplace.

Form Number: N/A.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.

Respondents: Business or other for-profit.

Number of Respondents and Responses: 700 respondents; 2,800 responses.

Estimated Time per Response: .50 hours-2 hours.

Frequency of Response: Annual reporting requirements, third party disclosure requirements and recordkeeping requirement.

Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. Statutory authority for this information collection is contained in: Sections 1, 4(i), 10, 201-205, 215, 218-220, 226, and 254 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 151-154, 160, 201-205, 215, 218-220, 226, and 254.

Total Annual Burden: 2,450 hours.

Total Annual Cost: No cost.

Privacy Act Impact Assessment: No impact.

Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: The Commission is not requesting that the respondents submit confidential information to the Commission. If the Commission requests respondents to submit information which respondents believe is confidential, respondents may request confidential treatment of such information under 47 CFR 0.459 of the Commission's rules.

Needs and Uses: The Commission will submit this information collection after this 60-day comment period in order to obtain the full three-year clearance from the OMB. The four information collection requirements under this OMB Control Number are information disclosure requirements, Internet posting requirements, recordkeeping requirements, and annual certification requirements. These requirements are necessary to provide consumers ready access to information concerning the rates, terms, and conditions governing the provision of interstate, domestic, interexchange services offered by nondominant interexchange carriers (IXCs) in a detariffed and increasingly competitive environment. The information collected under the information disclosure requirement and the Internet posting requirement must be disclosed to the public to ensure that consumers have access to the information they need to select a telecommunications carrier and to bring to the Commission's attention to possible violations of the Communications Act without a specific public disclosure requirement. The information collected under the recordkeeping and certification requirements will be used by the Commission to ensure that affected interexchange carriers fulfill their obligations under the Communications Act, as amended.

OMB Control Number: 3060-1120.

Title: Service Quality Measure Plan for Interstate Special Access Quarterly Reporting Requirements.

Form Number: N/A.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.

Respondents: Business or other for-profit.

Number of Respondents and Responses: 3 respondents; 12 responses.

Estimated Time per Response: 25 hours.

Frequency of Response: Quarterly reporting requirement.

Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. Statutory authority for this information collection is contained in 47 U.S.C. 151,152, 154(i), 154(j), 201-204, 214, 220(a), 251, 252, 271, 272, and 303(r).

Total Annual Burden: 300 hours.

Total Annual Cost: No cost.

Privacy Act Impact Assessment: No impact(s).

Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: The Commission anticipates that the Bell Operating Companies (BOCs) which are AT&T, CenturyLink, and Verizon, may request confidentiality protection for the special access performance information.

Needs and Uses: In 2007, the Commission established a framework to govern the provision of in-region, long-distance services that allows the BOCs to provide in-region, interstate, long distance services either directly or through affiliates that are neither section 272 separate affiliates nor rule 64.1903 affiliates, see Section 272 Sunset Order, FCC 07-159. Because the BOCs are no longer required to comply with the section 272 structural safeguards, the Commission established special access performance metrics reporting requirements, i.e., ordering, provisioning, and repair and maintenance to ensure that the BOCs and their independent incumbent LEC affiliates do not engage in non-price discrimination in the provision of special access services to unaffiliated entities. The information gleaned from these performance metrics will provide the Commission and other interested parties with reasonable tools to monitor each BOC's performance in providing these special access services to itself and its competitors.