[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 86 (Thursday, May 3, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26278-26279]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-10634]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Information Collection Being Reviewed by the Federal
Communications Commission
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
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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 Judith-b.herman@fcc.gov.
To submit your PRA comments by email send them to: PRA@fcc.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Judith B. Herman, Office of Managing
Director, (202) 418-0214.
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
[[Page 26279]]
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.
[FR Doc. 2012-10634 Filed 5-2-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P