Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 152 / Wednesday, August 11, 2021 / Notices 44019 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

[OMB 3060–1228; FR ID 42331] 

Information Collection Being Reviewed 

by the Federal Communications 

Commission 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: As part of its continuing effort 

to reduce paperwork burdens, and as 

required by the Paperwork Reduction 

Act of 1995 (PRA), the Federal 

Communications Commission (FCC or 

Commission) invites the general public 

and other Federal agencies to take this 

opportunity to comment on the 

following information collections. 

Comments are requested concerning: 

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; 

the accuracy of the Commission’s 

burden estimate; ways to enhance the 

quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information collected; 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 ways to 

further reduce the information 

collection burden on 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 Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) control 

number. No person shall be subject to 

any penalty for failing to comply with 

a collection of information subject to the 

PRA that does not display a valid OMB 

control number. 

DATES: Written PRA comments should 

be submitted on or before October 12, 

2021. If you anticipate that you will be 

submitting comments, but find it 

difficult to do so within the period of 

time allowed by this notice, you should 

advise the contact listed below as soon 

as possible. 

ADDRESSES: Direct all PRA comments to 

Nicole Ongele, FCC, via email PRA@

fcc.gov and to Nicole.Ongele@fcc.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

additional information about the 

information collection, contact Nicole 

Ongele, (202) 418–2991. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

OMB Control Number: 3060–1228. 

Title: Connect America Fund—High 

Cost Portal Filing. 

Form Number: N/A. 

Type of Review: Revision of a 

currently approved collection. 

Respondents: Business or other forprofit, not-for-profit institutions. 

Number of Respondents and 

Responses: 2,024 unique respondents; 

4,644 responses. 

Estimated Time per Response: 8 

hours–60 hours. 

Frequency of Response: On occasion, 

quarterly reporting requirements, 

annual reporting requirements, and 

recordkeeping requirement. 

Obligation to Respond: Required to 

obtain or retain benefits. Statutory 

authority for this information collection 

is contained in 47 U.S.C. 151–154, 155, 

201–206, 214, 218–220, 251, 252, 254, 

256, 303(r), 332, 403, 405, 410, and 

1302. 

Total Annual Burden: 86,727 hours. 

Total Annual Cost: No cost. 

Privacy Act Impact Assessment: No 

impact(s). 

Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: 

Except for the middle-mile maps for 

Alaska Plan carriers, and the coverage 

maps and information for Uniendo a 

Puerto Rico Fund and Connect USVI 

Fund Stage 2 mobile support recipients, 

the Commission is not requesting 

respondents to submit confidential 

information to the Commission. We note 

that the Universal Service 

Administrative Company (USAC) must 

preserve the confidentiality of all data 

obtained from respondents and 

contributors to the universal service 

support program mechanism; must not 

use the data except for purposes of 

administering the universal service 

support program; and must not disclose 

data in company-specific form unless 

directed to do so by the Commission. 

Also, respondents may request materials 

or information submitted to the 

Commission or to the Administrator 

believed confidential to be withheld 

from public inspection under 47 CFR 

0.459 of the FCC’s rules. 

Needs and Uses: Through several 

orders, the Commission has recently 

changed or modified reporting 

obligations for high-cost support. 

Pursuant to the following orders, this 

collection includes location reporting 

and related certification requirements of 

high-cost support recipients: Connect 

America Fund et al., Report and Order, 

Order and Order on Reconsideration, 

and Further Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking, 31 FCC Rcd 3087 (2016) 

(2016 Rate-of-Return Order); Connect 

America Fund et al., Report and Order 

and Further Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking, 31 FCC Rcd 5949 (2016) 

(Phase II Auction Order); Connect 

America Fund et al., Order, 31 FCC Rcd 

12086 (2016) (ACS Phase II Order); 

Connect America Fund et al., Report 

and Order and Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking, 29 FCC Rcd 876 (2014) 

(Rural Broadband Experiments Order); 

Connect America Fund et al., Report 

and Order, 29 FCC Rcd 15644 (2014) 

(Price Cap Order); Technology 

Transitions et al., Order et al., 29 FCC 

Rcd 1433 (2014) (Tech Transitions 

Order); Connect America Fund et al., 

Report and Order and Further Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking, 31 FCC Rcd 

10139 (2016) (Alaska Plan Order); 

Connect America Fund et al., Order, 32 

FCC Rcd 968 (2017) (New York Auction 

Order); Connect America Fund et al., 

Report and Order, Further Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking, and Order on 

Reconsideration, 33 FCC Rcd 11–893 

(2018) (2018 Rate-of-Return Order); 

Uniendo a Puerto Rico and Connect 

USVI Fund et al., Report and Order and 

Order on Reconsideration, 34 FCC Rcd 

9109 (2019) (PR–USVI Stage 2 Order); 

Rural Digital Opportunity Fund et al., 

Report and Order, 35 FCC Rcd 686 

(2020) (2020 Rural Digital Opportunity 

Fund Order). 

This information collection addresses 

the requirement that certain carriers 

with high-cost reporting obligations 

must file information about the 

locations to which they have deployed 

broadband service meeting applicable 

public interest requirements (location 

information). A web-based portal, the 

High-Cost Universal Broadband Portal 

(HUBB or portal), is used to accept this 

information. The Commission and 

USAC will use this information to 

monitor the deployment progress of 

reporting carriers and to verify the 

reporting carriers’ claims of service at 

the reported locations. Such activities 

help the Commission ensure that 

support is being used as intended. In 

addition, because data filed in the 

HUBB is publicly accessible, the 

reporting helps ensure public 

accountability and transparency. 

In the 2019 PR–USVI Stage 2 Order, 

the Commission created a competitive 

process to determine support recipients 

for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico 

and the U.S. Virgin Islands. As a result, 

carriers receiving support in these areas 

are subject to specific public interest 

obligations related to speed, usage, 

latency, and price as well as certain 

deployment milestones. Specifically, 

the Commission imposed defined 

deployment obligations and associated 

HUBB reporting requirements (annual 

location reporting and build-out 

certifications) for all Uniendo a Puerto 

Rico Fund and Connect USVI Fund 

Stage 2 fixed support recipients as well 

as annual reporting and certification 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
44020 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 152 / Wednesday, August 11, 2021 / Notices 

requirements for all Uniendo a Puerto 

Rico Fund and Connect USVI Fund 

Stage 2 mobile support recipients. 

Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund and 

Connect USVI Fund Stage 2 mobile 

support recipients will also file network 

coverage and other data as required by 

the Commission’s orders. The 

Commission and USAC will use this 

information to monitor the deployment 

progress of mobile carriers and to verify 

that carriers meet the public interest 

obligations for 4G LTE and 5G mobile 

broadband and voice services in the 

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the 

U.S. Virgin Islands. Instead of filing in 

the HUBB portal, mobile support 

recipients will submit their reports 

electronically as part of a web form 

accessed via the Commission’s Form 

477 portal (477 Portal) and the 

Electronic Comment Filing System 

(ECFS). This collection mechanism is 

being used to reduce the technological 

burden on the public and the 

Commission, as carriers and the public 

are familiar with both of these systems. 

The Commission’s Wireline 

Competition Bureau (WCB) will specify 

the filing process by which Stage 2 

mobile support recipients must file their 

reports in the 477 Portal prior to the 

filing deadlines. 

In the 2020 Rural Digital Opportunity 

Fund Order, the Commission adopted a 

support mechanism to provide funding 

through a competitive auction to 

connect rural homes and businesses to 

high-speed broadband networks. The 

Commission established specific public 

interest obligations and deployment 

milestones for all carriers receiving this 

support. Specifically, the Commission 

imposed defined deployment 

obligations and associated HUBB 

reporting requirements (annual location 

reporting and build-out certifications) 

for all support recipients. We therefore 

propose to revise this information 

collection. Finally, we propose to 

increase the burdens associated with 

existing and new reporting requirements 

to account for additional carriers that 

will be subject to these requirements. 

Federal Communications Commission. 

Marlene Dortch, 

Secretary, Office of the Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2021–17114 Filed 8–10–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

[FR ID: 42435] 

Privacy Act of 1974; Matching Program 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice of a new matching 

program. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Privacy Act of 1974, as amended 

(‘‘Privacy Act’’), this document 

announces the establishment of a 

computer matching program the Federal 

Communications Commission (‘‘FCC’’ 

or ‘‘Commission’’ or ‘‘Agency’’) and the 

Universal Service Administrative 

Company (USAC) will conduct with the 

Mississippi Department of Human 

Services (Department). The purpose of 

this matching program is to verify the 

eligibility of applicants to and 

subscribers of the Emergency Broadband 

Benefit Program, which is administered 

by USAC under the direction of the 

FCC, or other federal programs that use 

qualification for the FCC’s Lifeline 

Program as an eligibility criterion. More 

information about this program is 

provided in the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section below. 

DATES: Written comments are due on or 

before September 10, 2021. This 

computer matching program will 

commence on September 10, 2021, and 

will conclude 18 months after becoming 

effective. 

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Margaret 

Drake, FCC, 45 L Street NE, Washington, 

DC 20554, or to Privacy@fcc.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Margaret Drake at 202–417–1707 or 

Privacy@fcc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Emergency Broadband Benefit Program 

(EBBP) was established by Congress in 

the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 

2021, Public Law 116–260, 134 Stat. 

1182. EBBP is a program that helps lowincome Americans obtain discounted 

broadband service and one-time co-pay 

for a connected device (laptop, desktop 

computer or tablet). This program was 

created specifically to assist American 

families’ access to broadband, which 

has proven to be essential for work, 

school, and healthcare during the public 

health emergency that exists as a result 

of COVID–19. A household may qualify 

for the EBBP benefit under various 

criteria, including an individual 

qualifying for the FCC’s Lifeline 

program. 

In a Report and Order adopted on 

March 31, 2016, the Commission 

ordered USAC to create a National 

Lifeline Eligibility Verifier (‘‘National 

Verifier’’), including the National 

Lifeline Eligibility Database (LED), that 

would match data about Lifeline 

applicants and subscribers with other 

data sources to verify the eligibility of 

an applicant or subscriber. The 

Commission found that the National 

Verifier would reduce compliance costs 

for Lifeline service providers, improve 

service for Lifeline subscribers, and 

reduce waste, fraud, and abuse in the 

program. The Consolidated 

Appropriations Act of 2021 directs the 

FCC to leverage the National Verifier to 

verify applicants’ eligibility for EBBP. 

The purpose of this matching program 

is to verify the eligibility of EBBP 

applicants and subscribers by 

determining whether they receive 

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance 

Program (SNAP) benefits administered 

by the Mississippi Department. Under 

FCC rules, consumers receiving these 

benefits qualify for Lifeline discounts 

and also for EBBP benefits. 

Participating Non-Federal Agencies 

Mississippi Department of Human 

Services (Department). 

Authority for Conducting the Matching 

Program 

Consolidated Appropriations Act of 

2021, Public Law 116–260, 134 Stat. 

1182; 47 CFR part 54. 

Purpose(s) 

In the 2016 Lifeline Modernization 

Order, the FCC required USAC to 

develop and operate the National 

Verifier to improve efficiency and 

reduce waste, fraud, and abuse in the 

Lifeline program. The stated purpose of 

the National Verifier is ‘‘to increase the 

integrity and improve the performance 

of the Lifeline program for the benefit of 

a variety of Lifeline participants, 

including Lifeline providers, 

subscribers, states, community-based 

organizations, USAC, and the 

Commission.’’ 31 FCC Rcd 3962, 4006, 

para. 126. To help determine whether 

Lifeline applicants and subscribers are 

eligible for Lifeline benefits, the Order 

contemplates that the USAC-operated 

LED will communicate with information 

systems and databases operated by other 

Federal and State agencies. Id. at 4011– 

2, paras. 135–7. 

The Consolidated Appropriations Act 

of 2021 directs the FCC to leverage the 

National Verifier to verify applicants’ 

eligibility for EBBP. The purpose of this 

matching program is to verify the 

eligibility of EBBP applicants and 

subscribers by determining whether 

they receive SNAP benefits 

administered by the Mississippi 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES