52046 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 174 / Monday, September 8, 2008 / Notices 

list of agencies presented in the ‘‘Select 

Agency’’ box, (5) click the ‘‘Submit’’

button to the right of the ‘‘Select 

Agency’’ box, and (6) when the list of 

FCC ICRs currently under review 

appears, look for the title of this ICR (or 

its OMB Control Number, if there is one) 

and then click on the ICR Reference 

Number to view detailed information 

about this ICR. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

additional information or copies of the 

information collection(s), contact Judith 

B. Herman at 202–418–0214 or via the 

Internet at Judith-B.Herman@fcc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

OMB Control Number: 3060–0804. 

Title: Universal Service—Rural Health 

Care Program. 

Form Nos.: FCC Forms 465, 466, 466–

A and 467. 

Type of Review: Extension of a 

currently approved collection. 

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

state, local or tribal government. 

Number of Respondents: 6,494 

respondents; 59,464 responses. 

Estimated Time per Response: 10–20 

hours. 

Frequency of Response: On occasion, 

monthly, quarterly, annual, and onetime reporting requirements, and third 

party disclosure 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(i), 

154(j), 201–205, 214, 254, and 403. 

Total Annual Burden: 67,468 hours. 

Total Annual Cost: N/A. 

Privacy Act Impact Assessment: N/A. 

Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: 

There is no need for confidentiality. 

However, respondents may request 

material or information submitted to the 

Commission be withheld from public 

inspection by requesting confidential 

treatment of their documents under 47 

CFR 0.459 of the Commission’s rules. 

Needs and Uses: The Commission 

submitted this information collection to 

the OMB as an emergency request and 

received OMB approved on January 17, 

2008. The Commission is now 

submitting this information collection 

(IC) to the OMB as an extension (no 

change in reporting, recordkeeping and/ 

or third party disclosure requirements) 

during this comment period to obtain 

the full three-year clearance from them. 

Due to a mathematical error in the 

emergency request, the Commission is 

reporting a ¥952 hourly adjustment to 

the total annual burden. 

In the Telecommunications Act of 

1996 (1996 Act), Congress specifically 

sought to provide rural health care 

providers with ‘‘an affordable rate for 

the services necessary for the provision 

of telemedicine and instruction relating 

to such services.’’ In 1997, the 

Commission implemented this statutory 

directive by adopting the current Rural 

Health Care support mechanism, which 

provides universal service support to 

ensure that rural health care providers 

pay no more than their urban 

counterparts for their 

telecommunications needs and Internet 

access in the provision of health care 

services. Despite the Commission’s 

efforts to increase the utility of the Rural 

Health Care support mechanism, the 

program has yet to fully achieve the 

benefits intended by the statute and the 

Commission. 

In particular, health care providers 

continue to lack access to the broadband 

facilities needed to support the types of 

advanced telehealth applications, like 

telemedicine, that are vital to bringing 

medical expertise and advantage of 

modern health technology to rural areas 

of the nation. In response, the 

Commission issued the 2007 Pilot 

Program Selection Order (WC Docket 

No. 02–60, FCC 07–198) which selected 

69 participants for the universal service 

Rural Health Care Pilot Program (which 

was originally established by the 

Commission in September 2006). These 

69 participants are eligible for up to 85 

percent of the costs associated with: (1) 

The construction of state or regional 

broadband health care networks and 

with the advanced telecommunications 

and information services provided over 

those networks; (2) connecting to 

Internet 2 or National LambdaRail, 

which are both dedicated nationwide 

backbones; and (3) connecting to the 

public Internet. Approximately $417 

million in universal service support 

over three years (or $139 million per 

funding year) will be available to 

participants. To minimize the burden on 

Pilot Program participants and to 

streamline the process, the Commission 

generally uses the same forms as the 

existing Rural Health Care support 

mechanism. For example, selected 

participants, in order to receive support, 

must submit FCC Form 465 (seeking 

bids), FCC Form 466 (funding request 

and certification), FCC Form 466–A 

(selection of service provider), and FCC 

Form 467 (notification of service 

initiation). Due to the unique structure 

of the Pilot Program, however, in the 

2007 Pilot Program Selection Order, the 

Commission provides guidance 

regarding how these forms should be 

completed and additional information is 

required from selected participants, 

including proposed network costs 

worksheets, certifications, letters of 

agency from each participating health 

care provider, invoices showing actual 

incurred costs, and if applicable, 

network design studies. 

The information collected provides 

the Commission with the necessary 

information to administer the existing 

program and the Pilot Program, 

determine the amount of support 

applicants are eligible to receive, and 

inform the Commission about the 

feasibility of revising its rules. 

Federal Communications Commission. 

Marlene H. Dortch, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E8–20743 Filed 9–5–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

[MB Docket No. 07–57; FCC 08–178] 

Applications for Consent to the 

Transfer of Control of Licenses, XM 

Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., 

Transferor, to Sirius Satellite Radio 

Inc., Transferee 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice; approval of merger. 

SUMMARY: This document approves the 

consolidated application of Sirius 

Satellite Radio Inc. (‘‘Sirius’’) and XM 

Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (‘‘XM’’; 

jointly, the ‘‘Applicants’’) for consent to 

the transfer of control of the licenses 

and authorizations held by Sirius and 

XM and their subsidiaries for the 

provision of SDARS in the United States 

and eliminates the prohibition on one 

licensee of satellite digital audio radio 

service (or ‘‘SDARS’’) acquiring control 

of the other SDARS licensee. 

DATES: The Commission’s action became 

effective July 25, 2008. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Marcia Glauberman, Industry Analysis 

Division, Media Bureau, at (202) 418–

7046, or Rebekah Goodheart, Industry 

Analysis Division, Media Bureau, at 

(202) 418–1438. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a 

summary of the Federal 

Communications Commission’s 

Memorandum Opinion and Order and 

Report and Order (the ‘‘Order’’) in MB 

Docket No. 07–57; FCC 08–178, adopted 

July 25, 2008, and released August 5, 

2008. The full text of this document is 

available for public inspection and 

copying during regular business hours 

in the FCC Reference Center, Federal 

Communications Commission, 445 12th 

Street, SW., CY–A257, Washington, DC 

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Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 174 / Monday, September 8, 2008 / Notices 52047 

1Although the Commission found it unnecessary 

to impose a condition requiring the inclusion of HD 

Radio technology in SDARS receivers, it recognized 

that important questions were raised about HD 

Radio that warrant further examination in a 

separate proceeding. The Commission will initiate 

a notice of inquiry within 30 days after adoption of 

the merger order to gather additional information 

on the issues. 

20554. These documents will also be 

available via ECFS (http://www.fcc.gov/ 

cgb/ecfs). The complete text may be 

purchased from the Commission’s copy 

contractor, 445 12th Street, SW., Room 

CY–B402, Washington, DC 20554. To 

request this document in accessible 

formats (computer diskettes, large print, 

audio recording and Braille), send an email to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the FCC’s 

Consumer and Governmental Affairs 

Bureau at (202) 418–0530 (voice), (202) 

418–0432 (TTY). 

Summary of the Order 

1. In 1997, the Commission 

established the SDARS service and 

determined that there would be two 

initial SDARS licenses, sold at auction 

to different parties. The 1997 SDARS 

Service Rules Order, 62 FR 11083, 

11102, March 11, 1997 (‘‘1997 Order’’), 

contained the following language: 

Even after DARS licenses are granted, one 

licensee will not be permitted to acquire 

control of the other remaining satellite DARS 

license. This prohibition on transfer of 

control will help assure sufficient continuing 

competition in the provision of satellite 

DARS service. 

2. In this Order, the Commission 

found that the merger would be 

prohibited by the language in the 1997 

Order. For the reasons summarized 

below, however, the Commission found 

that approval of the merger, subject to 

the Applicants’ voluntary commitments 

and other conditions, would benefit 

consumers by making available to them 

a wider array of programming choices at 

various price points and affording them 

greater choice and control over the 

programming to which they subscribe, 

and that those benefits would exceed 

the harms. For the same reasons, the 

Commission concluded that elimination 

of the prohibition on one licensee of 

SDARS acquiring control of the other 

SDARS licensee, on balance, would 

serve the public interest. 

3. The Commission’s decision was 

based on consideration of the 

consolidated application of Sirius and 

XM for consent to the transfer of control 

of the licenses and authorizations held 

by Sirius and XM and their subsidiaries 

for the provision of SDARS in the 

United States. After reviewing the 

empirical data available as part of its 

competitive analysis, the Commission 

determined there was insufficient 

evidence in the record to predict the 

likelihood of anticompetitive harms. It 

therefore evaluated the Application 

under ‘‘worst-case’’ assumptions, i.e., 

that the relevant market is limited to 

SDARS. This approach permitted the 

Commission to protect consumers from 

potential adverse effects of the 

transaction while also allowing the 

Commission to balance potential harms 

against potential public interest 

benefits. The Commission concluded 

that the merger, absent the Applicants’

voluntary commitments and other 

conditions, would result in potential 

harms. The Commission found that, 

with the Applicants’ voluntary 

commitments and other conditions, the 

potential public interest benefits of the 

transaction, on balance, outweigh the 

potential harms, and approval of the 

transaction is in the public interest. 

4. The Commission conditioned grant 

of the application on the merged firm’s 

fulfillment of the Applicants’ voluntary 

commitments and other conditions. The 

Commission accepted the Applicants’

voluntary commitments and imposed 

conditions to: 

a. Cap prices for at least 36 months 

after consummation of the transaction, 

subject to certain cost pass-throughs 

after one year. In addition, six months 

prior to the end of commitment period, 

the Commission will seek public 

comment on whether the cap continues 

to be necessary in the public interest 

and will determine whether it should be 

extended, removed, or modified. The 

merger approval is conditioned on the 

Commission’s ability to modify or 

extend the price cap beyond the threeyear commitment period. 

b. Offer to consumers, within three 

months of consummation of the 

transaction, the ability to receive a 

number of new programming packages, 

including the ability to select 

programming on an a la carte basis. 

c. Make available four percent of its 

capacity for use by certain Qualified 

Entities, and an additional four percent 

of capacity for the delivery of 

noncommercial educational or 

informational programming, which will 

enhance the diversity of programming 

available to consumers. 

d. Offer interoperable receivers in the 

‘‘retail after-market,’’ i.e., receivers 

available at retail outlets for installation 

in consumers’ automobiles or homes, 

within nine months of consummation of 

the merger. 

e. Refrain from entering into any 

agreement that would grant an 

equipment manufacturer an exclusive 

right to manufacture, market, and sell 

SDARS receivers. Applicants also 

commit to refrain from barring any 

manufacturer from including in any 

receiver non-interfering digital audio 

broadcast (or, ‘‘HD Radio’’) 

functionality, iPod compatibility, or 

other audio technology.1 In addition, 

Applicants will make available the 

intellectual property needed to allow 

any device manufacturer to develop 

equipment that can deliver SDARS. 

f. File the applications needed to 

provide Sirius satellite service to Puerto 

Rico via terrestrial repeaters within 

three months of the consummation of 

the merger. 

5. The Commission reiterated that 

SDARS licensees are already prohibited, 

independent of the merger, from using 

terrestrial repeaters to distribute local 

content—including both programming 

and advertising—that is distinct from 

that provided to subscribers nationwide 

via satellite. The Commission also 

prohibited the merged entity from 

entering into agreements that would bar 

any terrestrial radio station from 

broadcasting live local sporting events. 

6. The Commission clarified that the 

merged entity must comply with the 

Commission’s equal employment 

opportunity rules and policies for 

broadcasters, including periodic 

submissions to the Commission 

consistent with the broadcast reporting 

schedule. 

Federal Communications Commission. 

Marlene H. Dortch, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E8–20735 Filed 9–5–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

FEDERAL MARITIME COMMISSION 

Meetings; Sunshine Act 

AGENCY HOLDING THE MEETING: Federal 

Maritime Commission. 

TIME AND DATE: September 11, 10 a.m. 

PLACE: 800 North Capitol Street, NW., 

First Floor Hearing Room, Washington, 

DC. 

STATUS: A portion of the meeting will be 

in Open Session and the remainder of 

the meeting will be in Closed Session. 

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: 

Open Session 

(1) FMC Agreement No. 201192, 

South Florida Container Terminal 

Cooperative Working Agreement. 

(2) Docket No. 02–04, Anchor 

Shipping Co. v. Alianca—Request for 

Extension of Time for Initial and Final 

Decision. 

(3) Constitution Day and Citizenship 

Day, 2008. 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES