[Federal Register: March 19, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 53)]
[Notices]               
[Page 13580-13581]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr19mr99-78]

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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

 
Public Information Collections Approved by Office of Management 
and Budget

March 8, 1999.
    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.: 3060-0785.
    Expiration Date: 09/30/99.
    Title: Universal Service Worksheet.
    Form No.: FCC Form 457.
    Respondents: Business or other for profit.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 5000 respondents; 13.69 hours per response 
(avg.); 68,450 total annual burden hours.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: $4903.
    Frequency of Response: Semi-annual; on occasion.
    Description: The Telecommunications Act of 1996 (1996 Act) directed 
the Commission to initiate a rulemaking to reform our system of 
universal service so that universal service is preserved and advanced 
as markets move toward competition. To fulfill that mandate, on March 
8, 1996, the Commission adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) 
in CC Docket No. 96-45 to implement the congressional directives set 
forth in section 254 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended by 
the 1996 Act. Pursuant to section 254(a)(1), the NPRM also referred 
numerous issues related to universal service to a Federal-State Joint 
Board for recommended decision. On November 8, 1996, the Joint Board 
released a Recommended Decision in which it made recommendations to 
assist and counsel the Commission in the creation of effective 
universal service support mechanisms that would ensure that the goals 
of affordable, quality service and access to advanced services are met 
by means that enhance competition. On November 18, 1996, the 
Commission's Common Carrier Bureau released a Public Notice (DA 96-
1891) seeking public comment on the issues addressed and 
recommendations made by the Joint Board in the Recommended Decision. On 
May 8, 1997, the Commission released the Report and Order on Universal 
Service in CC Docket No. 96-45 that established new federal universal 
service support mechanisms consistent with the universal service 
provisions of section 254. In the Second Order on Reconsideration in CC 
Docket Nos. 97-21, and 96-45, the Commission adopted the Worksheet. The 
Worksheet required universal service contributors to report as end-user 
telecommunications revenues any revenues derived from inside wiring 
maintenance. In the Sixth Order on Reconsideration, in CC Docket No. 
96-45, the Commission reconsidered its decision in the Second Order on 
Reconsideration regarding inside wiring maintenance. The Commission 
concluded that the provision of inside wiring maintenance does not 
constitute telecommunications or a telecommunications service, and 
therefore revenues derived from inside wiring maintenance should not be 
included as end-user telecommunications revenues on the Worksheet. The 
Commission directed that carriers should adjust the 1998 full-year data 
reported on the Worksheet due on March 31, 1999 to reflect this change. 
Pursuant to the authority delegated under section 54.711(c) of the 
Commission's rules, the Common Carrier Bureau has updated the Worksheet 
so that revenues from inside wiring maintenance are no longer reported 
as end-user telecommunications revenues. Specifically, revenues from 
inside wiring maintenance formerly reported on Line (34) as end-user 
telecommunications revenues are now reported on Line (50) as non-
telecommunications revenues. Contributors must use the revised 
Worksheet for their filings due on March 31, 1999. Copies of the 
revised Worksheet (February 1999 edition) and instructions may be 
downloaded from the Commission's forms Web Page, www.fcc.gov/
formpage.html. Copies may also be obtained from the Universal Service 
Administrative Company at 973-560-4400. Obligation to respond: 
Mandatory.

    OMB Control No.: 3060-0816.
    Expiration Date: 08/31/99.

[[Page 13581]]

    Title: Local Competition in the Local Exchange Telecommunications 
Services Report.
    Form No.: N/A.
    Respondents: Business or other for profit.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 20 respondents; 26 hours per response 
(avg.); 5520 total annual burden hours.
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: $0.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion; quarterly.
    Description: The Telecommunications Act of 1996 (1996 Act) imposes 
obligations and responsibilities on telecommunications carriers, 
particularly incumbent local exchange carriers (LECs), that are 
primarily designed to open telecommunications markets to competitive 
entry, to promote universal service, and to lessen the need for 
government regulation of telecommunications. Pursuant to these overall 
goals, the statute directed the Commission to adopt regulations to 
implement specific statutory requirements, including regulations 
governing the provisions of interconnection of incumbent LEC facilities 
with new local exchange service competitors, and the competitive entry 
of Bell Operating Companies (BOCs) into previously prohibited 
interexchange and other services markets. As part of its 
responsibilities toward achieving the intent of the statute, the 
Commission must have adequate data at hand to evaluate the success of 
these efforts. Moreover, in section 706(b) of the 1996 Act, Congress 
directed the Commission to report to it on the pace of deployment of 
``advanced telecommunications capability''--broadband 
telecommunications services such as high-speed Internet access. The 
Commission adopted a Report (in CC Docket 98-146) on January 28, 1999, 
in which it formally undertook to issue annual reports detailing the 
status of broadband deployment. Gathering relevant data about broadband 
deployment is, therefore, essential if the Commission is to 
successfully accomplish this statutory requirement. Gathering 
information also is critical to the Commission's deregulatory agenda. 
Gathering data about the development of local competition and broadband 
deployment will help ensure that the Commission can properly evaluate 
the nature and impact of its existing regulation and, where 
appropriate, reduce or eliminate regulation. New sections 10 and 11 of 
the 1996 Act both require the Commission to undertake reviews of 
existing Commission regulations with a view towards their elimination, 
but both require that the Commission's analysis include an economic 
analysis of the state of competition among service providers. The 
Commission has designed a survey form to capture this information and 
is asking certain carriers to complete the survey form. Obligation to 
response: Voluntary.
    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, DC 20554.

Federal Communications Commission.
Shirley S. Suggs,
Chief, Publications Branch.
[FR Doc. 99-6728 Filed 3-18-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P