2016-15819. Updating Competitive Bidding Rules

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) approved on June 22, 2016, a revision to an approved information collection to implement modified collection requirements on FCC Form 601, Application for Radio Service Authorization, contained in the Part 1 Report and Order, Updating Competitive Bidding Rules, FCC 15-80. 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 requirements.

DATES:

47 CFR 1.2110(j), published at 80 FR 56764 on September 18, 2015 and revised FCC Form 601, are effective on July 5, 2016.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Cathy Williams, [e-mail], [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

This document announces that, on June 22, 2016, OMB approved the information collection requirements for FCC Form 601, FCC Application for Radio Service Authorization and 47 CFR 1.2110(j), which was contained in Report and Order, FCC 15-80. The OMB Control Number is 3060-0798. The Commission publishes this document as an announcement of the effective date of the requirements. 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 Cathy Williams, Federal Communications Commission, Room 1-C823, 445 12th Street SW., Washington, DC 20554. Please include the OMB Control Number, 3060-0798, in your correspondence. The Commission will also accept your comments via the Internet if you send them to [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 OMB approval on June 22, 2016, for the information collection requirements contained in information collection 3060-0798. Under 5 CFR 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 3060-0798. The foregoing document is required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Pub. L. 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: 3060-0798.

OMB Approval Date: June 22, 2016.

OMB Expiration Date: June 30, 2019.

Title: FCC Application for Radio Service Authorization: Wireless Telecommunications Bureau

Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau.

Form Number: FCC Form 601.

Respondents: Individuals and households; Business or other for profit entities; Not for profit institutions; and State, local or tribal government.

Number of Respondents and Responses: 253,320 respondents and 253,320 responses.

Estimated Hours per Response: 0.5-1.25 hours.

Frequency of Response: Recordkeeping requirement, third party disclosure requirement, On occasion reporting requirement and periodic reporting requirement.

Total Annual Burden: 222,055 hours.

Total Annual Costs: $71,306,250.

Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. The statutory authority for this collection of information is contained in 47 U.S.C. 151, 152, 154, 154(i), 155(c), 157, 201, 202, 208, 214, 301, 302a, 303, 307, 308, 309, 310, 311, 314, 316, 319, 324, 331, 332, 333, 336, 534, 535 and 554.

Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: There is no need for confidentiality required with this collection of information.

Privacy Impact Assessment: Yes.

Needs and Uses: On July 20, 2015, the Commission released the Part 1 R&O in which it updated many of its Part 1 competitive bidding rules (See Updating Part 1 Competitive Bidding Rules; Expanding the Economic and Innovation Opportunities of Spectrum Through Incentive Auctions; Petition of DIRECTV Group, Inc. and EchoStar LLC for Expedited Rulemaking to Amend Section 1.2105(a)(2)(xi) and 1.2106(a) of the Commission's Rules and/or for Interim Conditional Waiver; Implementation of the Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act and Modernization of the Commission's Competitive Bidding Rules and Procedures, Report and Order, Order on Reconsideration of the First Report and Order, Third Order on Reconsideration of the Second Report and Order, and Third Report and Order, FCC 15-80, 30 FCC Rcd 7493 (2015), modified by Erratum, 30 FCC Rcd 8518 (2015) (Part 1 R&O)). Of relevance to the information collection at issue here, the Commission: (1) Implemented a new general prohibition on the filing of auction applications by entities controlled by the same individual or set of individuals (but with a limited exception for qualifying rural wireless partnerships); (2) modified the eligibility requirements for small business benefits, and updated the standardized schedule of small business sizes, including the gross revenues thresholds used to determine eligibility; (3) established a new bidding credit for eligible rural service providers; (4) adopted targeted attribution rules to prevent the unjust enrichment of ineligible entities; and (5) adopted rules prohibiting joint bidding arrangements with limited exceptions. The updated Part 1 rules apply to applicants seeking licenses and permits.

Additionally, on June 2, 2014, the Commission released the Mobile Spectrum Holdings R&O, in which the Commission updated its spectrum screen and established rules for its upcoming auctions of low-band spectrum. Of relevance to the information collection at issue here, the Commission stated that it could reserve spectrum in order to ensure against excessive concentration in holdings of below-1-GHz spectrum (In the Matter of Policies Regarding Mobile Spectrum Holdings, Expanding the Economic and Innovation Opportunities of Spectrum Through Incentive Auctions, FCC 14-63, Report and Order, 29 FCC Rcd 6133, 6190, para. 135 (2014) (Mobile Spectrum Holdings R&O). See also Application Procedures for Broadcast Incentive Auction Scheduled to Begin on March 29, 2016; Technical Formulas for Competitive Bidding, Public Notice, 30 FCC Rcd 11034, Appendix 3 (WTB 2015); Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Releases Updated List of Reserve-Eligible Nationwide Service Providers in each PEA for the Broadcast Incentive Auction, Public Notice, AU No. 14-252 (WTB 2016).

The Commission also revised the currently approved collection of information under OMB Control Number 3060-0798 to permit the collection of the additional information for Commission licenses and permits, pursuant to the rules and information collection requirements adopted by the Commission in the Part 1 R&O and the Mobile Spectrum Holdings R&O. As part of the collection, the Commission is now approved for the information collection and recordkeeping requirements associated with 47 CFR 1.2110(j), 1.2112(b)(2)(iii), 1.2112(b)(2)(v), 1.2112(b)(2)(vii), and 1.2112(b)(2)(viii). Also, in certain circumstances, the Commission requires the applicant to provide copies of their agreements and/or submit exhibits.

In addition, the Commission is now approved for various other, non-substantive editorial/consistency edits and updates to FCC Form 601 that correct inconsistent capitalization of words and other typographical errors, and better align the text on the form with the text in the Commission rules both generally and in connection with recent non-substantive, organizational amendments to the Commission's rules.

Federal Communications Commission.

Gloria J. Miles,

Federal Register Liaison Officer, Office of the Secretary.