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
July, 2016, the Commission revised its discontinuance procedures to
require that technology transition discontinuance applicants
seeking streamlined treatment meet the "adequate replacement test."
In June 2018, the Commission further modified the rules applicable
to section 214(a) discontinuance applications. First, all carriers,
whether dominant or non-dominant, that seek approval to grandfather
data services below speeds of 25 Mbps download speed and 3 Mbps
upload speed are now subject to a uniform reduced public comment
period of 10 days and an automatic grant period of 25 days. Second,
all carriers, whether dominant or non-dominant, seeking
authorization to discontinue data services below speeds of 25 Mbps
download speed and 3 Mbps upload speed that have previously been
grandfathered for a period of at least 180 days are subject to a
uniform reduced public comment period of 10 days and an automatic
grant period of 31 days, provided they submit a statement as part
of their discontinuance application that they have received
Commission authority to grandfather the services at issue at least
180 days prior to the filing of the discontinuance application.
This statement must reference the file number of the prior
Commission authorization to grandfather the services the carrier
now seeks to permanently discontinue. Third, carriers are no longer
required to file an application to discontinue, reduce, or impair
any service for which it has had no customers and no request for
service for at least a 30-day period immediately preceding the
discontinuance. Fourth, all carriers, whether dominant or
non-dominant, that seek approval to discontinue legacy voice
service can obtain further streamlined processing with a public
comment period of 15 days and an automatic grant period of 31 days,
provided (1) they offer a stand-alone interconnected VoIP service
throughout the service area, and (2) at least one alternative
stand-alone, facilities-based voice service is available from an
unaffiliated provider throughout the affected service area (the
“alternative options test”). Finally, all carriers, whether
dominant or non-dominant, that seek approval to grandfather legacy
voice service are now subject to a uniform reduced public comment
period of 10 days and an automatic grant period of 25
days.
US Code:
47
USC 214 Name of Law: Communications Act of 1934, as amended
US Code: 47
USC 402 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 increased from 63 to 80
(+17), the total annual responses increased from 83 to 88 (+5), and
the total annual burden hours decreased from 1,923 to 1,086 (-837).
These program changes/increases/decreases are due to (a) an
increase in the average number of section 214(a) applications filed
annually; (2) Commission expectation that it will receive three
fewer section 214(a) discontinuance applications annually in light
of the Commission’s forbearance from applying its section 214(a)
discontinuance requirements to services for which the carrier has
had no customers and no reasonable requests for service during the
preceding 30-day period; and (3) Commission expectation that fewer
carriers will use the adequate replacement test in connection with
technology transition discontinuance applications in light of the
availability of the newly-adopted alternative options test. 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.
3060-0149 SS (102018).docx
Part 63, Accelerating Wireline Broadband Deployment by Removing Barriers to Infrastructure Investment, WC Docket No. 17-84, FCC 18-74