2018-15652. Business Data Services in an Internet Protocol Environment; Technology Transitions; Special Access for Price Cap Local Exchange Carriers; AT&T Corporation Petition for Rulemaking To Reform Regulation of Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier ...

AGENCY:

Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION:

Final rule; announcement of effective date.

SUMMARY:

In this document, the Commission announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved, for a period of three years, an information collection associated with the Commission's Business Data Services Report and Order, FCC 17-43, which, among other things, required that by August 1, 2020, price cap incumbent LECs must remove all business data services that are no longer subject to price cap regulation from their interstate tariffs. The Order also required that, by the same deadline, competitive LECs must remove all business data services from their interstate tariffs. This document is consistent with the Order, which stated that the Commission would publish a document in the Federal Register announcing the effective date of these rules.

DATES:

The amendments to 47 CFR 61.201 and 61.203, published at June 2, 2017, 82 FR 25660, are effective July 23, 2018.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

William Kehoe, Pricing Policy Division, Wireline Competition Bureau, at [phone], or email: [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

This document announces that, on June 19, 2018, OMB approved, for a period of three years, the information collection requirement relating to sections 61.201 and 61.203 of the Commission's rules, as contained in the Commission's Business Data Services Report and Order, FCC 17-43, published at 82 FR 25660, June 2, 2017. The OMB Control Number is 3060-0298. The Commission publishes this document as an announcement of the effective date of the rules. 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 Nicole Ongele, Federal Communications Commission, Room 1-A620, 445 12th Street SW, Washington, DC 20554. Please include the OMB Control Number, 3060-0400, in your correspondence. The Commission will also accept your comments via email at [e-mail].

To request materials in accessible formats for people with disabilities (Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), send an email to [e-mail] or call the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at [phone] (voice), [phone] (TTY).

Synopsis

As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3507), the FCC is notifying the public that it received final OMB approval on June 19, 2018, for the information collection requirements contained in the modifications to the Commission's rules in 47 CFR part 61. 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 is 3060-0298.

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: 3060-0298.

OMB Approval Date: June 19, 2018.

OMB Expiration Date: June 30, 2021.

Title: Part 61, Tariffs (Other than the Tariff Review Plan).

Form Number: N/A.

Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities.

Number of Respondents and Responses: 2,840 respondents; 5,543 responses.

Estimated Time per Response: 30-50 hours.

Frequency of Response: On occasion, annual, biennial, and one-time reporting requirements.

Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. Statutory authority for this information collection (IC) is contained in 47 U.S.C. 151-155, 201-205, 208, 251-271, 403, 502, and 503 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended.

Total Annual Burden: 195,890 hours.

Total Annual Cost: $1,369,000.

Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: Respondents are not being asked to submit confidential information to the Commission. If the Commission requests respondents to submit information which respondents believe are confidential, respondents may request confidential treatment of such information under 47 CFR 0.459 of the Commission's rules.

Privacy Act: No impact(s).

Needs and Uses: On April 20, 2017, the Commission adopted the Business Data Services Report and Order, FCC 17-43, which establishes a new regulatory framework for business data services. Under this framework, price cap incumbent LECs are no longer subject to price cap regulation of their: (a) packet-based business data services; (b) time-division multiplexing (TDM) transport business data services; (c) TDM business data services with bandwidth in excess of a DS3; and (d) DS1 and DS3 end user channel terminations, and other lower-bandwidth TDM business data services, to the extent a price cap incumbent LEC provides them in counties deemed competitive under the Commission's competitive market test or in counties for which the price cap incumbent LEC had obtained Phase II pricing flexibility under the Commission's prior regulatory regime. The Business Data Services Report and Order required that, within 36 months of its effective date (i.e., by August 1, 2020), price cap incumbent LECs must remove all business data services that are no longer subject to price cap regulation from their interstate tariffs. The Order also required that, by that same deadline, competitive LECs must remove all business data services from their interstate tariffs.

The information collected through the carriers' tariffs is used by the Commission and state commissions to determine whether services offered are just and reasonable, as the Act requires. The tariffs and any supporting documentation are examined in order to determine if the services are offered in a just and reasonable manner.

Federal Communications Commission.

Marlene Dortch,

Secretary, Office of the Secretary.