[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 125 (Thursday, June 28, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34445-34447]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-16241]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION


Public Information Collections Approved by Office of Management 
and Budget

June 19, 2001.
    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.: 3060-0986.
    Expiration Date: 12/31/2001.
    Title: Federal State Joint Board on Universal Service Plan for 
Reforming the Rural Universal Support Mechanism, CC Docket No. 96-45.
    Form No.: N/A.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit; State, Local or Tribal 
Government.
    Estimated Annual Burden: 7099 respondents; .81 hours per response 
(avg.); 5770 total annual burden hours (for all collections approved 
under this control number).
    Estimated Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Cost Burden: $0.
    Frequency of Response: On occasion; Quarterly; Annually; One-time 
Requirement; Third Party Disclosure.
    Description: In the Fourteenth Report and Order, Twenty-Second 
Order on Reconsideration in CC Docket No. 96-45 and Report and Order in 
CC Docket No. 00-256, released May 23, 201 (FCC 01-157), consistent 
with the recommendation of the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal 
Service (Joint Board), the Commission adopts rules for determining 
high-cost universal service support for rural telephone companies for 
the next five years based upon the proposals made by the Rural Task 
Force. The Commission also addresses certain proposals made by the 
Multi-Association Group (MAG) for reforming universal services rules 
applicable to rural carriers. As part of its proposal to reform the 
federal universal service support mechanism for rural carriers, the 
Rural Task Force proposed that rural carriers be permitted to depart 
from study area averaging and instead disaggregate and target per-line 
high-cost universal service support, including high-cost loop support, 
LTS, and LSS, into geographic areas below the study area level. The 
Rural Task Force concluded that the disaggregation and targeting of 
support is necessary to eliminate the economic distortions that may 
result from the delivery of support on a uniform per-line basis under 
the current mechanism. At the same time, however, the Rural Task Force 
stated that rural carriers need flexibility in the manner in which 
support is disaggregated and targeted in light of the widely varying 
characteristics and operating environments of rural carriers. 
Recognizing that a disaggregation and targeting system must meet the 
unique regulatory and competitive environments in each state, the Rural 
Task Force recommended a disaggregation system consisting of three 
paths. a. Election of Disaggregation Plan and Change in Path: Carriers 
are required to elect one of three paths within 270 days of the 
effective date of the Order implementing rural high-cost

[[Page 34446]]

reform through a submission to the state commission. Rural carriers not 
subject to the jurisdiction of the state are required to make such 
submission to the Commission. Carriers failing to do who will not be 
permitted to disaggregate and target support unless ordered to do so by 
a state commission or other appropriate regulatory authority either on 
its own motion or in response to a request by an interested party. See 
47 CFR 54.315(a). (Number of respondents: 1300; hours per response: .5 
hours; total annual burden: 650 hours). b. Notification of 
Disaggregation Methodology: 1. Path One: Carriers Not Disaggregating 
and Targeting High-Cost Support. Path One provides that a carrier may 
choose not to disaggregate. This Path is intended to address those 
instances where a carrier determines that given the demographics, cost 
characteristics, and location of its service territory, and the lack of 
a realistic prospect of competition, that disaggregation is not 
economically rational. A carrier must certify to the state commission, 
or other appropriate regulatory authority, that it does not want to 
disaggregate support. Carriers electing Path One must submit to USAC a 
copy of the certification of the state commission or appropriate 
regulatory authority certifying that it will not disaggregate and 
target support. See 47 CFR 54.315(b). (No. of respondents: 500; hours 
per response: .5 hours; total annual burden: 250 hours).2. Path 2: 
Carriers Seeking Prior Regulatory Approval for the Disaggregation and 
Targeting of Support. Path Two provides that a carrier may seek 
approval of its disaggregation and targeting plan from the appropriate 
regulatory authority. Because there are no constraints on 
disaggregation and targeting proposals under this path, for example a 
carrier could disaggregate and target support to multiple levels below 
a wire center, a disaggregation and targeting method can be tailored 
with precision, subject to state approval, to the cost and geographic 
characteristics of the carrier and the competitive and regulatory 
environment in which it operates. A carrier that chooses this path 
would file a disaggregation plan with the state commission, or other 
appropriate regulatory authority. Carriers selecting Path 2 must submit 
a copy to USAC of the Order approving the disaggregation plan submitted 
by the carriers to the state commission or appropriate regulatory 
authority and a copy of the disaggregation plan approved by the state 
commission or appropriate regulatory authority. See 47 CFR 54.315(c), 
(e), and (f). (No. of respondents: 873; hours per response: .666 hours; 
total annual burden: 582 hours). 3. Path 3. Self-Certification of the 
Disaggregation and Targeting of Support: The Commission adopts the Path 
Three self-certification process that permits carriers to choose (1) a 
disaggregation plan of up to two cost zones per wire center, or (2) a 
disaggregation plan that complies with a prior regulatory 
determination. A carrier must provide, among other things, the state 
and USAC with a description of the rationale used to disaggregate 
support, including the methods and data and a discussion of how the 
plan complies with the self-certification guidelines. In addition, if 
the plan uses a benchmark, it must be generally consistent with how the 
total study area level of support for each category of costs (high-cost 
loop support, LSS and LTS) is derived, to enable a competitor to 
compare the disaggregated costs used to determine support for each 
zone. See 47 CFR 54.315(d), (e) and (f). (No. of respondents: 873; 
hours per response: .666 hours; total annual burden: 582 hours). c. 
Reporting Working Loops at Cost-Zone Level: Rural carriers that elect 
to disaggregate and target per-line support under either Path Two or 
Three are required to report loops at the cost-zone level. If there is 
no competition in the service area the carrier is required to file 
annually. If competition exists in the service are than the carrier is 
required to file quarterly. See 47 CFR 54.307(b) and (c). (No. of 
respondents: 864 filing annually; 9 filing quarterly; hours per 
response: 2 hours; total annual burden: 1746 hours). d. State 
Certification Letter Under 254(e):
    The Commission also concludes that states should be required to 
file annual certifications with the Commission to ensure that carriers 
use universal service support ``only for the provision, maintenance and 
upgrading of facilities and services for which the support is 
intended'' consistent with section 254(e). The Commission concludes 
that the mandate in section 254(e) applies to all carriers, rural and 
non-rural, that are designated as eligible to receive support under 
section 214(e) of the Act. States that wish to receive federal 
universal service high-cost support for rural carriers within their 
boundaries to file a certification with the Commission and USAC stating 
that all federal high-cost funds flowing to rural carriers in that 
state will be used in a manner consistent with section 254(e). The 
Commission recognizes that some state commissions may have only limited 
regulatory oversight to ensure that federal support is reflected in 
intrastate rates. In the case of non-rural carriers, the Commission 
concluded that states nonetheless may certify to the Commission that a 
non-rural carrier in the state had accounted to the state commission 
for its receipt of federal support, and that such support will be used 
``only for the provision, maintenance and upgrading of facilities and 
services for which the support is intended.'' The Commission determined 
that, in states in which the state commission has limited jurisdiction 
over such carriers, the state need not initiate the certification 
process itself. Instead, non-rural local exchange carriers, and 
competitive eligible telecommunications carriers serving lines in the 
service area of the non-rural local exchange carriers, may formulate 
plans to ensure compliance with section 254(e), and present those plans 
to the state, so that the state may make the appropriate certification 
to the Commission. Absent the filing of such certification, carriers 
will not receive support. See 47 CFR 54.313(b) and 54.314. (No. of 
respondents: 60 respondents; hours per response: 3 hours; total annual 
burden: 180 hours). e. Support in Competitive Study Areas: Under our 
existing rules, rural carriers and their competitors currently are 
required to file line count data annually, and may file quarterly 
updates on a voluntary basis. Quarterly updates are required in non-
rural carrier study areas. Under the current rules, if an incumbent 
rural carrier does not update its line count data but its competitor 
does, the competitor's more recent data may include lines captured from 
the incumbent since the incumbent's last filing. Thus the incumbent may 
continue to receive support for the year based on an overstated number 
of lines. To prevent an overpayment of support, the Commission requires 
the filing of line count data on a regular quarterly basis upon 
competitive entry in rural carrier study areas. The Commission 
emphasizes that this requirement will not apply in rural carrier study 
areas in which an eligible telecommunications carrier has not been 
designated. See 47 CFR 36.611 and 36.612. To ensure that the interval 
between the submission of data and receipt of support is as short as 
possible in rural carrier study areas, the Commission clarifies that 
competitive eligible telecommunications carriers may submit initial 
line count data and receive support on a regular quarterly basis under 
section 54.307(c). Rural telephone companies that incorporate

[[Page 34447]]

acquired exchanges into existing study areas should exclude the costs 
associated with the acquired exchanges from the cost associated with 
the pre-acquisition study areas in annual universal service data a 
submissions used to determine eligibility for high-cost loop supports. 
Acquiring rural carriers shall separately provide the information 
listed in section 47 CFR 36.611 for both acquired and existing 
exchanges, as if these two categories of exchanges constitute separate 
study areas. See 47 CFR section 36.611. (No. of respondents: 20; hours 
per response: 24 hours; total annual burden: 480 hours). f. Safety Net 
Additive: Safety net additive support would only be available in years 
in which support levels would otherwise exceed the new indexed cap on 
the high-cost loop support fund. To receive such support in a 
particular study area, a carrier would need to show that growth in 
telecommunications plant in service (TPIS) per line is at least 14 
percent greater than the study area's TPIS per line in the prior year, 
or the ``base year.'' Any study area that initially qualifies for 
safety net additive support would also qualify for such support in each 
of the four succeeding years if the cap is again triggered, regardless 
of whether the study area meets the 14 percent criterion in the 
succeeding years. Carriers must provide written notice to the 
Commission and USAC in conjunction with their annual or quarterly 
submissions to NECA indicating that a study area meets the 14 percent 
TPIS trigger. If a carrier should fail to provide written notification 
to the Commission and USAC, the study area that otherwise would have 
qualified for safety net additive will not be eligible. See 47 CFR 
36.605(c)(2). (No. of respondents: 1300; hours per response: .5 hours; 
total annual burden: 650 hours). g. Safety Valve: Once relevant 
regulatory approvals are obtained and the transaction is closed, the 
rural carrier shall provide written notice to USAC that they have 
acquired access lines that may become eligible for safety value 
support. In order to assist USAC in the administration of the safety 
valve mechanism, rural carriers shall also provide written notice to 
USAC of when their index year has been established for purposes of 
calculating eligibility for safety valve support. See 47 CFR 54.305 
(f). (No. of respondents: 1300; hours per response: .5 hours; total 
annual burden: 650 hours). The Commission will use the information 
requirements to determine whether and to what extent rural 
telecommunications carriers providing the data are eligible to receive 
universal service support. Obligation to respond: Required to obtain or 
retain benefits.
    Public reporting burden for the collection 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.
Magalie Roman Salas,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 01-16241 Filed 6-27-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P