E9-3281. Notice of Public Information Collection(s) Being Submitted for Review to the Office of Management and Budget, Comments Requested

February 10, 2009.

SUMMARY:

The Federal Communications Commission, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork burden invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on the following information collection(s), as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520. An agency 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 Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) that does not display a valid control number. 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 estimate; (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.

DATES:

Written Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) comments should be submitted on or before March 19, 2009. If you anticipate that you will be submitting PRA comments, but find it difficult to do so within the period of time allowed by this notice, you should advise the FCC contact listed below as soon as possible.

ADDRESSES:

Direct all PRA comments to Nicholas A. Fraser, Office of Management and Budget, [phone], or via fax at 202-395-5167 or via internet at [e-mail] and to [e-mail], Federal Communications Commission, or an e-mail to [e-mail]. To view a copy of this information collection request (ICR) submitted to OMB: (1) Go to the web page http://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, and (6) when the list of FCC ICRs currently under review appears, look for the title of this ICR (or its OMB Control Number, if there is one) and then click on the ICR Reference Number to view detailed information about this ICR.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

For additional information or copies of the information collection(s), contact Judith B. Herman at 202-418-0214 or via the Internet at [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

OMB Control Number: 3060-1085.

Title: Section 9.5, Location Information, Provision of Notice, and Recordkeeping Requirement on Interconnected Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) E911 Compliance.

Form No.: Not applicable.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.

Respondents: Business or other for-profit.

Number of Respondents: 12 respondents; 12 responses.

Estimated Time Per Response: 50,197 hours.

Frequency of Response: Recordkeeping requirement and third party disclosure requirements.

Obligation to Respond: Mandatory. Statutory authority for this information collection is contained in 47 U.S.C. sections 151, 152(a), 153(33), 153(52), and 251(e)(3).

Total Annual Burden: 602,364 hours.

Total Annual Cost: $52,449,272.

Privacy Act Impact Assessment: No impact.

Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: The Commission is not requesting that respondents submit confidential information to the Commission.

Needs and Uses: The Commission requesting an extension (no change in recordkeeping and/or third party disclosure requirements) in order to obtain the full three year clearance from the OMB. There has been a significant decrease in recalculating the number of respondents/responses since this was last submitted to OMB in 2006. The Commission has also increased the total annual burden hours and annual costs due to a recalculation of the estimates.

The Commission is obligated by statute to promote “safety of life and property” and to “encourage and facilitate the prompt deployment throughout the United States of a seamless, ubiquitous, and reliable end-to-end infrastructure” for public safety. Congress has established 911 as the national emergency number to enable all citizens to reach emergency services directly and efficiently, irrespective of whether a citizen uses wireline or wireless technology when calling for help by dialing 911. Efforts by federal, state and local government, along with the significant efforts of wireline and wireless service providers, have resulted in the nearly ubiquitous deployment of this life-saving service.

The Order the Commission adopted on May 19, 2005, sets forth rules requiring providers of VoIP services that interconnect with the nation's existing public switched telephone network (interconnected VoIP services) to supply E911 capabilities to their customers. To ensure E911 functionality for customers of VoIP service providers the Commission requires the following information collections:

A. Location Registration. Requires providers to interconnected VoIP services to obtain location information from their customers for use in the routing of 911 calls and the provision of location information to emergency answering points.

B. Provision of Automatic Location Information (ALI). Interconnected VoIP service providers will place the location information for their customers into, or make that information available through, specialized databases maintained by local exchange carriers (and, in at least one case, a state government) across the country.

C. Customer Notification. Requires that all providers of interconnected VoIP are aware of their interconnected VoIP service's actual E911 capabilities. That all providers of interconnected VoIP service specifically advise every subscriber, both new and existing, prominently and in plain language, the circumstances under which E911 service may not be available through the interconnected VoIP service or may be in some way limited by comparison to traditional E911 service.

D. Record of Customer Notification. Requires VoIP providers to obtain and keep a record of affirmative acknowledgement by every subscriber, both new and existing, of having received and understood this advisory.

E. User Notification. In addition, in order to ensure to the extent possible that the advisory is available to all potential users of an interconnected VoIP service, interconnected VoIP service providers must distribute to all subscribers, both new and existing, warning stickers or other appropriate labels warning subscribers if E911 service may be limited or not available and instructing the subscriber to place them on or near the customer premises equipment used in conjunction with the interconnected VoIP service.

OMB Control Number: 3060-0813.

Title: Section 20.18, Enhanced 911 Emergency Calling Services.

Form No.: Not applicable.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.

Respondents: Business or other for-profit, not-for-profit institutions, and state, local or tribal government.

Number of Respondents: 47,031 respondents; 47,031 responses.

Estimated Time Per Response: 1-5 hours.

Frequency of Response: On occasion and one-time reporting requirements, recordkeeping requirement and third party disclosure requirements.

Obligation to Respond: Mandatory. Statutory authority for this information collection is contained in 47 U.S.C. 151, 152(a), 153(33), 153(52), and 251(e)(3).

Total Annual Burden: 198,200 hours.

Total Annual Cost: None.

Privacy Act Impact Assessment: Not applicable.

Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: The Commission is not requesting that respondents submit confidential information to the Commission.

Needs and Uses: The Commission will submit this information collection (IC) to the OMB during this comment period in order to obtain the full three year clearance from the OMB. The Commission is requesting an extension (no change in the reporting, recordkeeping and/or third party disclosure requirements) and there is no change in the number of responses and/or burden hours.

The notification requirement on Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) will be used by the carriers to verify that wireless E911 calls are referred to PSAPs who have the technical capability to use the data to the caller's benefit. TTY and dispatch requirements will be used to avoid customer confusion as to the capabilities of their handsets to reach help in emergency situations, this minimizing the possibility of critical delays in response time. The annual TTY reports will be used to monitor the progress of TTY technology and thus capability. Consultations on the specific meaning assigned to pseudo-Automatic Location Identification (ALI) are appropriate to ensure that all parties are working with the same information. Coordination between carriers and state and local entities to determine the appropriate PSAPs to receive and respond to E911 calls is necessary because of the difficulty in assigning PSAPs based on the location of the wireless caller. The deployment schedule that must be submitted by carriers seeking a waiver of Phase I or Phase II deployment schedules(s) will be used by the Commission to guarantee that the rules are enforced in as timely a manner as possible within technological constraints. In addition, a wireless carrier must implement E911 service within the six-month period following the date of the PSAP's request will be deemed valid if the PSAP making the request provides the following information: (1) Cost recovery; (2) necessary equipment; and (3) necessary facilities. (See a complete explanation of these requirements in the 60 day notice that was published in the Federal Register on November 14, 2008 (73 FR 67514).

In the alternative, the PSAP may demonstrate that a funding mechanism is in place, that it is E911 capable using a Non-Call Associated Signaling technology, and that it has made a timely request to the appropriate Local Exchange Carrier (LEC) for the necessary ALI database upgrade.

Federal Communications Commission.

Marlene H. Dortch,

Secretary.