[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 176 (Thursday, September 11, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47808-47810]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-24123]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Public Information Collections Approved by Office of Management
and Budget
September 5, 1997.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has received Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) approval for the following public
information collections pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995, Public Law 104-13. An agency may not conduct or sponsor and a
person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless
it displays a currently valid control number. For further information
contact Shoko B. Hair, Federal Communications Commission, (202) 418-
1379.
Federal Communications Commission
OMB Control No.: 3060-0704.
Expiration Date: 02/28/98.
Title: Policy and Rules Concerning the Interstate, Interexchange
Marketplace, Implementation of Section 254(g) of the Communications Act
of 1934, as amended, CC Docket No. 96-61.
Form No.: N/A.
Respondents: Business or other for profit.
Estimated Annual Burden: 519 respondents; 146 hours per response
(avg.); 75,895 total annual burden hours for all collections.
Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: $435,000.
Frequency of Response: On occasion, annual, one-time requirement.
Description: In the Order on Reconsideration issued in CC Docket
[[Page 47809]]
96-61 (released 8/20/97), the Commission amended the collections
adopted in the Second Report and Order in this proceeding.
a. Tariff cancellation requirement: In the Order on
Reconsideration, the Commission concludes that, with two exceptions,
the statutory forbearance criteria in Section 10 of the Communications
Act, as amended, are met for the Commission no longer to require or
allow nondominant interexchange carriers to file tariffs pursuant to
Section 203 for their interstate, domestic, interexchange services. The
Commission further concludes that nondominant interexchange carriers
are allowed to file tariffs for (1) their interstate, domestic,
interexchange direct-dial services to which end-users obtain access by
dialing a carrier's carrier access code (dial-around 1+ services) and
(2) interstate, domestic, interexchange services provided by a
nondominant interexchange carrier for the lesser period of the initial
45 days of service or until there is a written contract between the
carrier and the customer, in those limited circumstances in which a
prospective customer contacts the LEC to select an interexchange
carrier or to initiate a change in his or her primary carrier. See 47
CFR Sec. 61.20.
In order to implement the Commission's detariffing policy, the
Second Report and Order requires nondominant interexchange carriers to
cancel their tariffs for interstate, domestic, interexchange services
on file with the Commission within nine months of the effective date of
that Order. That requirement, however, was not implemented by the
carriers in light of the stay of the Second Report and Order, pending
judicial review, entered by the United States Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia Circuit on February 13, 1997. The Order on
Reconsideration provides that the Common Carrier Bureau will determine
the appropriate transition period when the detariffing rules become
effective. Nondominant interexchange carriers that have on file with
the Commission tariff offerings that contain services subject to
different tariffing requirements (e.g., tariff offerings that include
dial-around 1+ services and service to new customers that contact the
LEC to select an interexchange carrier or to initiate a change in their
primary interexchange carrier, for which carriers are permitted to file
tariffs, and tariff offerings that combine international services,
which still must be tariffed, with interstate, domestic, interexchange
services, which are detariffed), may comply with the Order on
Reconsideration either by: (1) Cancelling the entire tariff and
refiling a new tariff for only those services for which tariffs are
required or permitted (519 respondents x 2 hours per page = 2504
annual burden hours); or (2) issuing revised pages cancelling the
material in the tariffs that pertain to those services subject to
forbearance (519 respondents x 2 hours per page = 72,094 burden
hours).
b. Information disclosure requirement: The attached Order on
Reconsideration eliminates the requirement that nondominant
interexchange carriers make information on current rates, terms, and
conditions for all of their interstate, domestic, interexchange
services available to any member of the public in an easy to understand
format and in a timely manner, for purposes of enforcing Section 254(g)
of the Communications Act, as amended.
c. Recordkeeping requirement: In the Order on Reconsideration, the
Commission affirms its conclusion in the Second Report and Order to
require nondominant interexchange carriers to maintain at their
premises price and service information regarding all of their
interstate, domestic,interexchange service offerings that they can
submit to the Commission upon request. The Commission clarifies in the
Order on Reconsideration that nondominant interexchange carriers should
retain the documents supporting the rates, terms, and conditions of the
carriers' interstate, domestic, interexchange offerings. Nondominant
interexchange carriers are required to retain the foregoing records for
a period of at least two years and six months following the date the
carrier ceases to provide services on such rates, terms and conditions,
in order to afford the Commission sufficient time to notify a carrier
of the filing of a complaint, which generally must be filed within two
years from the time the cause of action accrues (in the event a
complaint is filed against a carrier, the carrier will be required to
retain documents relating to the complaint until the complaint is
resolved). See 47 CFR Sec. 42.11. Nondominant interexchange carriers
are required to maintain the foregoing records in a manner that allows
them to produce such records within ten business days of receipt of a
Commission request, and to file with the Commission, and update as
necessary, the name, address, and telephone number of the individual,
or individuals, designated by the carrier to respond to Commission
inquiries and requests for documents. The availability of such records
will enable the Commission to meet its statutory duty of ensuring that
such carriers' rates, terms, and conditions for service are just,
reasonable, and not unreasonably discriminatory, and that these
carriers comply with the geographic rate averaging and rate integration
requirements of the 1996 Act. In addition, maintenance of such records
will enable the Commission to investigate and resolve complaints. (519
respondents x 2 hours per response = 1038 annual burden hours).
d. Certification Requirement: In the Second Report and Order, the
Commission adopted its proposal to require nondominant interexchange
carriers to file certifications with the Commission stating that they
are in compliance with their statutory geographic rate averaging
obligations under Section 254(g) of the Communications Act, as amended.
These providers must also file certifications with the Commission
stating that they are in compliance with their statutory rate
integration obligations under Section 254(g). See 47 CFR 64.1900. This
requirement is reaffirmed in the Order on Reconsideration. (519
respondents x .05 hours per response = 259.5 annual burden hours).
The information collected under the tariff cancellation requirement
must be disclosed to the Commission, and will be used to implement the
Commission's detariffing policy. The information collected under the
recordkeeping and other requirements will be used by the Commission to
ensure that affected interexchange carriers fulfill their obligations
under the Communications Act, as amended. Your response is mandatory.
OMB Control No.: 3060-0536.
Expiration Date: 09/30/2000.
Title: Rules and Requirements for Telecommunications Relay Services
(TRS) Interstate Cost Recovery.
Form No.: FCC Form 431.
Respondents: Business or other for profit.
Estimated Annual Burden: 5000 respondents; 3.1 hours per response
(avg.); 15,593 total annual burden hours for all collections.
Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: $0.
Frequency of Response: On occasion; annual.
Description: Title IV of the Americans with Disabilities Act of
1990 (ADA) requires the Commission to ensure that telecommunications
relay services are available, to the extent possible, to individuals
with hearing and speech disabilities in the United States. To fulfill
this mandate, the Commission
[[Page 47810]]
adopted rules that require the provision of TRS service beginning July
26, 1993. The Commission set minimum standards for TRS providers and
established a shared-funding mechanism (TRS Fund) for recovering the
costs of providing interstate TRS. The Commission also appointed the
National Exchange Carrier Association (NECA) the TRS Fund
administrator, and directed NECA to establish a non-paid, voluntary
advisory committee to monitor cost recovery matters.
a. FCC Form 431: The Commission's rules require all carriers
providing interstate telecommunications services to contribute to the
TRS Fund. The amount contributed is the product of the carrier's gross
interstate revenues for the previous year and a contribution factor
determined annually by the Commission. Contributions are calculated in
accordance with a TRS Fund Worksheet which is prepared each year by the
Commission and published in the Federal Register. Payments from the
fund are made to eligible TRS providers and are designed to cover the
reasonable costs incurred in providing interstate TRS service. The TRS
Fund administrator files a proposed payment formula and estimated fund
requirements with the Commission each year, and this payment formula is
subject to Commission approval. See 47 CFR 64.601-64.608 for rules and
requirements governing telecommunications relay services. Pursuant to
Sec. 64.604(c)(4)(iii)(A), every carrier providing interstate
telecommunications services must contribute to the TRS Fund on the
basis of its relative share of gross interstate revenues. Section
64.604(c)(4)(iii)(A) contains a partial listing of the types of
interstate services for which contributions must be made. Carriers who
provide interstate services, including but not limited to, cellular
telephone and paging, mobile radio, operator services, personal
communications service (PCS), access (including subscriber line
charges), alternative access and special access, packet-switched, WATS,
800, 900, message telephone service, interstate private line, telex,
telegraph, video, satellite, intraLATA international and resale
services must contribute to the TRS Fund. Contributions to the TRS Fund
will be based on each interstate service provider's relative share of
gross interstate revenues for the prior calendar year and a
contribution factor determined by the Commission. Contributors must use
the TRS Fund Worksheet, FCC Form 431, to calculate their contributions
to the TRS Fund. The worksheet must be filed with the FCC TRS Fund
Administrator. See Sec. 64.604(c)(4)(iii)(B) and FCC Form 431, TRS Fund
Worksheet. (5000 respondents x 2 hours per response = 10,000 annual
burden hours).
b. True and Accurate Data: TRS providers must provide the
administrator with true and accurate data to be used to compute
payments. According to Sec. 64.604(c)(4)(iii)(C), the providers must
submit the following: total TRS minutes of use, total interstate TRS
minutes of use, total TRS operating expenses and total TRS investment
in general accordance with 47 CFR Part 32, and other historical or
projected information reasonably requested by the administrator for
purposes of computing payments and revenue requirements. (13
respondents x 3 hours per response = 39 annual burden hours).
c. Reports of Interstate TRS Minutes: TRS providers, including
providers who are not interexchange carriers, local exchange carriers,
or certified state relay providers, must submit reports of interstate
TRS minutes of use to the administrator in order to receive payments.
TRS providers receiving payments shall file a form prescribed by the
administrator. The administrator is directed to fashion a form that is
consistent with Parts 32 and 36. (See 47 CFR
Sec. 64.604(c)(4)(iii)(E)). (13 respondents x 4 hours per response =
52 annual burden hours).
d. Notification to TRS Administrator: Section 64.604(c)(4)(iii)(F)
lists TRS providers who are eligible for receiving payments from the
TRS Fund. These providers must notify the administrator of their intent
to participate in the TRS Fund thirty days prior to submitting reports
of TRS interstate minutes of use in order to receive payment
settlements for interstate TRS. Failure to file may exclude the TRS
provider from eligibility for the year. (See 47 CFR
64.604(c)(4)(iii)(G)). Payments will only be made to eligible TRS
providers operating in compliance with the mandatory minimum standards
set forth in Sec. 64.604. (13 respondents x 10 minutes per response =
2.16 annual burden hours).
e. TRS Administrator Annual Report: The TRS Fund is subject to a
yearly audit performed by an independent certified accounting firm or
by the Commission, or both. Pursuant to Sec. 64.604(c)(4)(iii)(H), the
TRS Fund administrator must report annually to the Commission its
administrative costs associated with the administration of the TRS
Fund, and must file a cost allocation manual. TRS payment formulas and
revenue requirements must be filed with the Commission on October 1 of
each year. The administrator must establish a non-paid, voluntary
advisory committee of persons from the hearing and speech disability
communities, TRS users, interstate service providers, state
representatives, and TRS providers which will meet at reasonable
intervals in order to monitor TRS cost recovery matters. The annual
report to the Commission must include a discussion of advisory
committee deliberations. (1 respondent x 500 hours per response = 500
annual burden hours).
Information submitted in response to the foregoing requirements is
used to administer the TRS Fund. Information is used to calculate the
required carrier contributions to the TRS Fund and to determine the
appropriate payment due to the TRS providers participating in the
shared funding plan. Your response is required to obtain or retain
benefits.
Public reporting burden for the collections of information is as
noted above. Send comments regarding the burden estimate or any other
aspect of the collections of information, including suggestions for
reducing the burden to Performance Evaluation and Records Management,
Washington, D.C. 20554.
Federal Communications Commission.
William F. Caton,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 97-24123 Filed 9-10-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P
