Section 214 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, requires that the FCC review the establishment, acquisition, operation, and extension of lines, and the discontinuance of service by interstate common carriers. This OMB collection pertains primarily to section 63.71 and other related sections of the Commission's rules, which govern the application process for receiving authority for discontinuance, impairment or reduction in service. The discontinuance obligations that apply to domestic non-dominant telecommunications carriers have been extended to providers of interconnected VoIP service. In November 2017, the Commission revised its discontinuance procedures in several ways. First, the Commission applied a uniform reduced public comment period of 10 days and an automatic grant period of 25 days to all carriers, whether dominant or non-dominant, who seek approval to grandfather low speed (i.e., services below 1.544 Mbps) legacy services (a carrier grandfathers a service when it maintains the provision of that service to existing customers while ceasing to offer such service to new customers). Second, the Commission applied a uniform reduced public comment period of 10 days and an auto-grant period of 31 days to all applications seeking to discontinue legacy data services (i.e., services below 1.544 Mbps) that have previously been grandfathered for a period of at least 180 days, provided the applicant submits a certification as part of its discontinuance application that the applicant has received Commission authority to grandfather the services at issue at least 180 days prior to the filing of the discontinuance application. Third, the Commission held that if a carrier files an application to discontinue, reduce, or impair a legacy voice or data service below 1.544 Mbps for which it has had no customers and no request for service for at least a 30-day period immediately preceding submission of the application, that application will be automatically granted on the 15th day after its filing with the Commission, absent Commission notice to the contrary. Lastly, the Commission held that a carrier need not seek approval from the Commission pursuant to Section 214(a) of the Act to discontinue, reduce, or impair a service when such a change in the service directly affects only carrier-customers.
US Code:
47 USC 403
Name of Law: Communications Act of 1934, as amended
US Code:
47 USC 571
Name of Law: Communications Act of 1934, as amended
US Code:
47 USC 151
Name of Law: Communications Act of 1934, as amended
US Code:
47 USC 154(i) and 154(j)
Name of Law: Communications Act of 1934, as amended
US Code:
47 USC 218
Name of Law: Communications Act of 1934, as amended
US Code:
47 USC 160
Name of Law: Communications Act of 1934, as amended
US Code:
47 USC 161
Name of Law: Communications Act of 1934, as amended
US Code:
47 USC 201-205
Name of Law: Communications Act of 1934, as amended
US Code:
47 USC 214
Name of Law: Communications Act of 1934, as amended
The Commission is reporting program changes/decreases to the total number of respondents, total annual responses and total annual burden hours with this revised collection. The total number of respondents and total annual responses decreased from 60 to 58 (-2) and the total annual burden hours decreased from 360 to 348 (-12). These program changes/decreases are due to the Commission estimates that it will receive fewer discontinuance applications pursuant to Section 214(a) in light of the Commissionâs reversal of the 2015 Technology Transition Orderâs interpretation of Section 214(a) with respect to discontinuance, reduction, or impairment of service that directly affects only carrier-customers.
No adjustments are being reported to this information collection.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
PRA Supporting Statement for Revision to 3060-0149_(final version).docx
Part 63, Accelerating Wireline Broadband Deployment by Removing Barriers to Infrastructure Investment, WC Docket No. 17-84, FCC 17-154