Supporting Statement for Broadband CPS Revision - Part A

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Telecommunications and Information Administration

BROADBAND SUBSCRIPTION AND USAGE SURVEY (Supplement to THE census BUREAU’s current population survey)

OMB CONTROL NO. 0660-0021

A. JUSTIFICATION

This is an expedited review request for revision of a currently approved information collection. The requested approval date is July 1, 2011 which will allow the Census Bureau enough time to incorporate the proposed broadband questions into the July CPS; the standard Paperwork Reduction Act clearance process would delay the implementation of the proposed survey questions in the CPS.

1. Explain the circumstances that make the collection of information necessary.

President Barack Obama is committed to expanding broadband technology across the country.^a

The Administration is working with Congress, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Rural Utilities Service, the states, and other parties to develop and implement economic and regulatory policies that foster broadband deployment and adoption. Current, systematic, and comprehensive data on broadband use and non-use by U.S. households is critical to allow policymakers not only to gauge progress made to date, but also to identify problem areas with a specificity that permits carefully targeted and cost effective responses.

On February 10, 2011, the President outlined his "national wireless initiative," calling for extending the next (4G) generation of wireless service to 98 percent of the country over the next five years. In response to this initiative, the White House and National Telecommunications

and Information Administration (NTIA) are seeking to expand the existing set of July 2011 Current Population Survey (CPS) Internet Use questions. This challenge has led to the development of survey questions on the current extent and nature of wireless broadband and reasons for non-adoption of this technology by some households. NTIA believes these questions will deliver data that may significantly inform the President’s national wireless initiative.

NTIA proposes to add 52 questions to the Census Bureau’s July 2011 CPS in order to gather reliable data on broadband (also known as high-speed Internet) use by U.S. households. The Census Bureau is widely regarded as a superior collector of data based on its centuries of experience and its scientific methods. Questions on Internet usage were included in nine previous Census household surveys.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has ranked the United States a disappointing number 14 or higher in household broadband access for several years despite a period of rapid growth in the technology’s penetration. The OECD looks to Census data as an important input into their inter-country benchmark analyses. Modifying the July 2011 CPS

to include NTIA’s requested broadband data will allow the Commerce Department and NTIA to respond to Congressional concerns, Congressional directives, and to work with the OECD on its broadband methodologies with more recent data.

2. Explain how, by whom, how frequently, and for what purpose the information will be used. If the information collected will be disseminated to the public or used to support information that will be disseminated to the public, then explain how the collection complies with all applicable Information Quality Guidelines.

The Census Bureau will collect the desired information during its July 2011 CPS and potentially on an annual basis thereafter on varying dates (e.g., October 2012, July 2013) and with updated survey instruments. NTIA will use the data collected to assist the President, the Congress, and the FCC to develop targeted, sound, and cost-effective policies to foster the deployment and adoption of broadband and other Internet services throughout the United States. The data collected will also be available to the public to further policy research on broadband and other communications issues, and will be used on an international level at the OECD to better inform their broadband studies and methodologies. A prominent use for the data may be as an input into a national broadband map that NTIA must develop and maintain as required by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Information quality is an integral part of the pre-dissemination review of the information disseminated by the Census Bureau (fully described in the Census Bureau’s Information Quality Guidelines).

3. Describe whether, and to what extent, the collection of information involves the use of automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological techniques or other forms of information technology.

The Census Bureau will conduct personal visits and telephone interviews, using computer-assisted telephone interviewing and computer-assisted personal interviewing, and considers these techniques the most appropriate collection methodology, given existing available information technology.

4. Describe efforts to identify duplication.

Adding the NTIA’s proposed questions to the CPS will generate official geographic and demographic statistics on broadband and Internet usage in the United States that is unavailable with such attributes from any other source. To NTIA’s knowledge, there are no other data sources that can provide the depth and reliability of information on broadband deployment and adoption that is available from the CPS.

5. If the collection of information involves small businesses or other small entities, describe the methods used to minimize burden.

Not Applicable.

6. Describe the consequences to the Federal program or policy activities if the collection is not conducted or is conducted less frequently.

If the information collection is not conducted, comprehensive and reliable data that is essential to the development of sound and cost-effective government policies regarding broadband deployment and adoption and, more broadly, the Internet, would be unattainable.

7. Explain any special circumstances that require the collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with OMB guidelines.

Not Applicable.

8. Provide a copy of the PRA Federal Register Notice that solicited public comments on the information collection prior to this submission. Summarize the public comments received in response to that notice and describe the actions taken by the agency in response to those comments. Describe the efforts to consult with persons outside the agency to obtain their views on the availability of data, frequency of collection, the clarity of instructions and recordkeeping, disclosure, or reporting format (if any), and on the data elements to be recorded, disclosed, or reported.

The Federal Register Notice soliciting public comment for a thirty-day comment period was published on May 13, 2011 (Vol. 76. pg. 27986). The public has been instructed to send any comments in response to this notice to the OMB Desk Officer (contact information provided).

NTIA consulted with the following person(s) concerning the development of the proposed questions:

Christopher Laskey, Census Bureau, (301) 763-5312

Lisa Clement, Census Bureau, (301) 763-5482

Greg Weyland, Census Bureau, (301) 763-3790

Robert Kominski, Census Bureau, (301) 763-2120

The result of these consultations is NTIA’s 52 proposed supplemental questions. The advance letter referred to in response to Question 10 provide respondents with an address at the Census Bureau and at the OMB to which they can submit general comments on the survey, specifically those regarding respondent burden.

9. Explain any decisions to provide payments or gifts to respondents, other than remuneration of contractors or grantees.

Not Applicable.

10. Describe any assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents and the basis for assurance in statute, regulation, or agency policy.

The Census Bureau will collect CPS data (including NTIA’s proposed supplemental questions) in compliance with the Privacy Act of 1974. Each sample household will receive an advance letter approximately one week before the start of the initial CPS interview. The letter includes the information required by the Privacy Act of 1974, informs each respondent of the voluntary nature of the survey, and states the estimated time required for participating in the survey.

Additionally, interviewers must ask each respondent if he/she received the advance letter and, if not, will provide a copy of the letter to each respondent and allow sufficient time for him/her to read its contents. Upon request, interviewers also provide households with the pamphlet on "How the Census Bureau Keeps Your Information Strictly Confidential," which reaffirms the confidentiality assurances and mentions the Census Bureau's past performance in assuring confidentiality. All information given by respondents to Census Bureau employees is held in strict confidence under Title 13, United States Code, Section 9. Each Census Bureau employee has taken an oath to that effect and is subject to a jail penalty and/or a substantial fine if he/she discloses any information given to him/her.

11. Provide additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered private.

NTIA’s proposed supplemental questions are not of a sensitive nature.

12. Provide an estimate in hours of the burden of the collection of information.

It is estimated that the total respondent burden for NTIA’s proposed 52 questions is 9,000 hours (10 minutes per household for the 54,000 households in the CPS sample).

13. Provide an estimate of the total annual cost burden to the respondents or record-keepers resulting from the collection (excluding the value of the burden hours in

Question 12 above).

Not Applicable.

14. Provide estimates of annualized cost to the Federal government.

The Census Bureau is charging NTIA $800,000 to include the 52 supplemental questions in the CPS with associated agreed-upon tables.

15. Explain the reasons for any program changes or adjustments.

The program change increase in burden hours (from 1,350 to 7,650) is due to revised, additional survey questions to the CPS.

16. For collections whose results will be published, outline the plans for tabulation and publication.

The Census Bureau will conduct the CPS in July 2011. Fact sheets and any appropriate reports will be issued during the first quarter of 2012.

17. If seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection, explain the reasons why display would be inappropriate.

Not Applicable.

18. Explain each exception to the certification statement.

There are no exceptions to the certification.

a See White House website at http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/20091217-recovery-act-investments-broadband.pdf