2012-10634. Information Collection Being Reviewed by the Federal Communications Commission

AGENCY:

Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION:

Notice and request for comments.

SUMMARY:

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

DATES:

Written Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) comments should be submitted on or before July 2, 2012. 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:

Submit your PRA comments to Judith B. Herman, Federal Communications Commission, via the Internet at [e-mail]. To submit your PRA comments by email send them to: [e-mail].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Judith B. Herman, Office of Managing Director, [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

OMB Control Number: 3060-0484.

Title: Sections 4.1 and 4.2, Part 4 of the Commission's Rules Concerning Disruptions to Communications (NORS).

Form Number: N/A.

Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.

Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities and Not-for-profit Institutions.

Number of Respondents: 118 respondents; 15,444 responses.

Estimated Time per Response: .25 hours to 2 hours.

Frequency of Response: On occasion and annual reporting requirements.

Obligation to Respond: Mandatory. Statutory authority for this collection of information is contained in 47 U.S.C. sections 151, 152, 154(i)-(k), 154(o), 218, 219, 230, 256, 301, 302(a), 303(f), 303(g), 303(j), 303(r), 403, 615a-l, 621(b)(3), 621(d), 1302(a) and 1302(b) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended; and Section 1704 of the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act of 1998, 44 U.S.C. section 3504.

Total Annual Burden: 29,647 hours.

Total Annual Cost: N/A.

Privacy Impact Assessment: N/A.

Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: Outage reports filed pursuant to Part 4 of the Commission's rules are presumed confidential. The information in the filings may be shared with the Department of Homeland Security only under appropriate confidential disclosure provisions. Other persons seeking disclosure must follow the procedures delineated in 47 CFR sections 0.457 and 0.459 of the Commission's rules for requests for and disclosure of information.

Needs and Uses: The Commission is seeking OMB approval for a revision of this information collection in order to obtain the full three year approval from OMB. The Commission is reporting a 9,909 hours program change increase in the Commission's previous burden estimates. The increase in the burden estimates is due to adoption of FCC 12-22, Report and Order, extending the Part 4 outage reporting requirements to interconnected Voice over Internet Providers (VoIP) which are new respondents subject to the requirements of this information collection.

Specifically, the Commission extended mandatory outage reporting rules to facilities-based and non-facilities-based interconnected VoIP service providers and applied the current Part 4 definition of “outage” to outages of interconnected VoIP service, covering the complete loss of service and/or connectivity to customers at least 30 minutes duration that potentially affects at least 900,000 user minutes of interconnected VoIP services and results in complete loss of service; or potentially affects any special offices and facilities such as a 911 facility.

Collecting data on significant outages of interconnected VoIP services will help the Commission to monitor compliance with the statutory 911 obligations of interconnected VoIP service providers, as well as help ensure the Nation's current and future 911 systems are as reliable and resilient as possible both on a day-to-day basis and in times of a major emergency. The Commission recognizes that consumers are increasingly relying on Internet Protocol (IP)-based technologies as substitutes for communications services provided by older communications technologies, and increasingly use interconnected VoIP services in lieu of traditional telephone service. As of December 31, 2010, 31 percent of the more than 87 million residential telephone subscriptions in the United States were users of interconnected VoIP providers—an increase of 21 percent (from 22.4 million to 27.1 million) from the end of 2009. Additionally, the Commission estimates that approximately 31 percent of residential wireline 911 calls are made using VoIP service.

The information collected is administered by the FCC's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB) which maintains an Internet Web site portal for the electronic submission of the required outage reports. In addition, provision is made for the submission of required data by other than electronic means in cases where electronic submission is not feasible. In cases where specified offices and facilities (other than 911 offices and facilities) are submitted within 120 minutes of an outage to the Commission's duty officer (a post staffed 24 hours a day) in the FCC's Communications and Crisis Management Center in Washington, DC.

Federal Communications Commission.

Marlene H. Dortch,

Secretary, Office of the Secretary, Office of Managing Director.