Supporting Statement OMB 3060-0674 (2020)

OMB Control Number: 3060-0674 February 2020

Title: Section 76.1618, Basic Tier Availability

SUPPORTING STATEMENT 

A. Justification

1. 47 C.F.R. Section 76.1618 states that a cable operator shall provide written notification to subscribers of the availability of basic tier service to new subscribers at the time of installation. This notification shall include the following information: (a) that basic tier service is available; (b) the cost per month for basic tier service; and (c) a list of all services included in the basic service tier. These notification requirements are to ensure the subscribers are made aware of the availability of basic cable service at the time of installation.

The Commission is requesting an extension of this information collection in order to obtain the full three-year approval/clearance from OMB.

This information collection does not affect individuals or households; thus, there are no impacts under the Privacy Act.

Statutory authority for this collection of information is contained in Section 4(i) and Section 632 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended.

2. These notice requirements, as outlined in Section 76.1618, ensure that subscribers are made aware of the availability of basic cable service at the time of installation.

3. We estimate that the majority of cable operators use information technology for these disclosure requirements by computer-generating the notifications and incorporating them into pre-printed monthly subscriber billings and other routine customer mailings.

4. This agency does not impose similar disclosure requirements on the respondents.

5. This information collection requirement does not have a significant impact on a substantial number of small businesses/entities.

6. If the Commission did not require these disclosures, the Commission would not be in compliance with Section 632 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended.

7. There are no special circumstances associated with this information collection requirement.

8. The Commission published a Notice (84 FR 66188) in the Federal Register on December 3, 2019 seeking comments on the information collection requirements contained in this collection. No comments were received from public.

9. There will be no payment or gifts given to respondents.

10. There is no need for confidentiality with this collection of information.

11. This information collection does not address any private matters of a sensitive nature.

12. There are approximately 8,250 cable television systems in the nation. We estimate that

operators routinely incorporate information about the availability and price of basic cable service on monthly subscriber billing statements. We estimate that operators also routinely incorporate notices of rate increases on monthly subscriber billing statements. The annual burden to produce this information is estimated to be an average of 2.25 hours per operator.

Total Number of Annual Respondents: 8,250 Cable Television Systems

Total Number of Annual Responses: 8,250 Written Notifications

Total Annual Burden Hours: 8,250 Cable Television Systems x 2.25 hours/operator = 18,563 hours

Total Annual "In-House Costs": We estimate cable operators employ staff paid at an average hourly wage of $48.08 per hour to implement these notification requirements.

18,563 hours x $48.08 per hour = $892,509.04

These estimates are based on Commission staff's knowledge and familiarity with the availability of the data required.

13. Annual Cost Burden:

(a) Total annualized capital/startup costs: None

(b) Total annual costs (O&M): None

(c) Total annualized cost required: None

14. There is no cost to the Federal Government.

15. There are no program changes or adjustments to this information collection.

16. The data will not be published for statistical use.

17. We do not seek approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of this information collection.

18. There are no exceptions to the Certification Statement.

B. Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods

No statistical methods are employed.

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