[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 125 (Monday, June 29, 2020)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 38793-38794]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-12135]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
47 CFR Parts 1 and 43
[WC Docket No. 11-10 and 19-195, FCC 19-79; FRS 16815]
Establishing the Digital Opportunity Data Collection; Modernizing
the FCC Form 477 Data Program
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Final rule; announcement of effective date.
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SUMMARY: In this document, the Federal Communications Commission
(Commission) announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
has approved, for a period of three years, the information collection
requirements associated with the Local Telephone Competition and
Broadband Reporting, Report and Order, FCC Form 477. This document is
consistent with the Report and Order, which stated that the Commission
would publish a document in the Federal Register announcing OMB
approval and the effective date of the information collection
requirements.
DATES: Paragraphs 44 through 51 of the Report and Order, published at
84 FR 43705, August 22, 2019, are effective on June 29, 2020.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information, contact
Cathy Williams, [email protected], (202) 418-2918.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document announces that, on May 28,
2020, OMB approved the information collection requirements contained in
the Commission's Report and Order, FCC 19-79, published at 84 FR 43705,
August 22, 2019. The OMB Control Numbers are 3060-0816. The Commission
publishes this document as an announcement of the effective date of the
information collection requirements.
Synopsis
As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C.
3507), the FCC is notifying the public that it received OMB approval on
May 28, 2020, for the information collection requirements contained in
the Commission's rules.
No person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply
with a
[[Page 38794]]
collection of information subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act that
does not display a current, valid OMB Control Number. The OMB Control
Numbers are 3060-0816.
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: 3060-0816.
OMB Approval Date: May 28, 2020.
OMB Expiration Date: March 31, 2023.
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.
Respondents: Business or other non-profit or for-profit entities;
not-for-profit institutions; and state, local, or tribal government.
Number of Respondents: 2,515 respondents, 5,030 responses.
Estimated Time per Response: 348 hours.
Frequency of Response: Semi-annual reporting requirement.
Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. The
statutory authority for this collection of information 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 47 U.S.C. 1302.
Total Annual Burden: Approximately 1,750,440 hours (for all
respondents).
Total Annual Cost: No cost.
Privacy 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: On August 1, 2019, the Commission adopted a Report
and Order, FCC 19-79, in WC Docket Nos. 19-195 and 11-10. The Order
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). 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 will also 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 also 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 adopted by the Commission, the Order required 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 rules will not become effective as a
result of the Broadband DATA Act (Broadband Deployment Accuracy and
Technology Availability Act, Public Law 116-130, 134 Stat. 228 (2020)
(codified at 47 U.S.C. 641-646)). The Broadband DATA Act directs the
Commission to ``continue to collect and publicly report subscription
data that the Commission collected through the Form 477 broadband
deployment service availability process, as in effect on July 1,
2019.'' 47 U.S.C. 642(b)(6)(B), which became law on March 23, 2020.
Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-12135 Filed 6-26-20; 8:45 am]
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