Supporting Statement OMB 3060-1184 2024-12-12 (final)

3060-1184

February 2025

Sections 1.946(d), 1.949, 27.10(d), 27.12, 27.13, 27.14 and 27.17, Service Rules for the Advanced Wireless Services H Block—Implementing Section 6401 of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 Related to the 1915-1920 MHz and 1995-2000 MHz Bands – R&O, FCC 13-88.

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

Introduction: The Commission is seeking a three year extension from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for this collection. This information collection supports “Auction of H Block Licenses in the 1915-1920 MHz and 1995-2000 MHz Bands”, also known as Auction 96, which began on January 22, 2014 and closed on February 27, 2014.

A. Justification:

1. On June 27, 2013, the FCC adopted: Service Rules for the Advanced Wireless Services H Block—Implementing Section 6401 of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 Related to the 1915-1920 MHz and 1995-2000 MHz Bands, WT Docket 12-357, Report and Order, 28 FCC Rcd 9483 (2013) (H Block R&O). The H Block R&O adopted service rules for the H Block and makes available 10 MHz of paired spectrum for flexible use in accordance with the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012. The H Block R&O contained new information collection requirements.¹

For the purpose of this collection, a winning bidder of H Block spectrum must comply with each of the following rule sections:

1. Sections 1.946(d) and 27.14 require H Block licensees to file a construction notification and certify that they have met the applicable performance benchmarks.

2. Sections 1.949 and 27.13 require H Block licensees to file renewal applications and certify that they continue to provide at least the level of service required by its final performance requirement through the end of any subsequent license term or include a detailed description of: (1) the level and quality of service provided by the applicant; (2) the date service commenced; (3) whether service was ever interrupted; (4) the duration of any interruption or outage; (5) the extent to which service is provided to rural areas; (6) the extent to which service is provided to qualifying Tribal lands; and (7) any other factors associated with the level of service to the public.

3. Section 27.10(d) requires an H Block licensee to notify the Commission within 30 days if it changes, or adds to, the carrier status on its license.

4. Section 27.12 requires H Block licensees to comply with certain eligibility reporting requirements.

5. Section 27.17 requires H Block licensees to notify the Commission within ten days if they permanently discontinue service by filing FCC Form 601 or 605 and requesting license cancellation.

Statutory authority for these collections are contained in 15 U.S.C. 79 et seq.; 47 U.S.C. §§ 151, 154(i), 154(j), 155, 157, 225, 227, 303(r), 309, 310, 1404, and 1451.

The information collection requirements in this collection do not affect individuals or households; thus, there are no impacts under the Privacy Act.

2. Use of information. The Commission will use the information to ensure H Block licensees’ compliance with required filings of notifications, certifications, regulatory status changes, and applicable performance benchmarks. Also, such information will be used to verify whether H Block applicants and, in the context of the national security certification requirement, whether other applicants for Spectrum Act licenses are legally and technically qualified to hold licenses; and to determine compliance with Commission rules.

3. Technological collection techniques. The Commission wants licensees to provide the requested information and notifications electronically through the Universal Licensing System (ULS). ULS is an electronic filing system that reduces the burden on respondents.

4. Efforts to identify duplication. There will be no duplicative information collected. The information sought is unique to the respondent and is not already available, because the Commission does not impose a separate similar information collection on the respondent. Thus, there is no similar data available under another information collection. Moreover, the information proposed to be collected under the new collection implements a statutory requirement.

5. Impact on small entities. In conformance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (“PRA”), the Commission is making an effort to minimize burdens on all respondents, regardless of size. The Commission has limited the information requirements to those absolutely necessary for evaluating compliance with Commission rules.

6. Consequences if information is not collected. The information collected will only be required when an H Block licensee changes its regulatory status, provides certain notifications or certifications to the Commission, or renews its license. We expect the filings to be at the end of the initial license term and on occasion depending on whether the licensee makes certain filings.

7. Special circumstances. No special circumstances exist for this collection.

8. Federal Register notice; efforts to consult with persons outside the Commission. The Commission published a 60-day Federal Register Notice (89 FR 103826) on December 19, 2024 seeking PRA comments on the information collection requirements contained in this collection. No PRA comments were received from the public.

9. Payments or gifts to respondents. Respondents will not receive any payments associated with this collection.

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

11. Questions of a sensitive nature. The information collection requirements contained in this collection do not address any private matters of a sensitive nature.

12. Estimate of Respondent Burden: For purposes of this supporting statement, the Commission states that one respondent will submit filings at the end of the initial license term and on occasion depending on whether the licensee makes certain filings.

Please see the chart below for the number of respondents, frequency of response, time per response, total annual burden hours. In Auction 96 (Auction of H Block Licenses in the 1915-1920 MHz and 1995-2000 MHz Bands), one applicant won all of the 176 Economic Areas (EA) including Gulf of Mexico. The licensee was awarded one license for each EA it licensed. As a result, the number of licenses (176) will be the frequency of responses. The number of burden hours is based on the following:

12-	Burden on Respondents	Number of Respondents	Number of Responses/ Frequency of Responses	Time per Response (Hours)	Total Annual Burden Hours
a.	§§ 1.946(d) and 27.14 H Block Licensee Construction Notification, Certification, or Cancellation (Form 601 or Form 605)	12	1763	1	176
b.	§§ 1.949 and 27.13 H Block license renewal	1	04	1	0
c.	§ 27.10(d) H Block Licensee Change in Regulatory Status	1	05 On Occasion	0	0
d.	§ 27.12 Eligibility Compliance pursuant to 47 USC §§ 310 (b) and 1404	1	06 On Occasion	0	0
e.	§ 27.17 H Block Licensee Notification of changes resulting in discontinuance, reduction, or impairment	1	07 On Occasion	0	0
	Totals:	18 Respondent/ Fulfilling Multiple Requirements	176 Responses	1	176 Hours

12-a. Reporting—Compliance with performance requirement for H Block licensees pursuant to 47 C.F.R. §§ 1.946(d) and 27.14. The Commission adopted performance requirements for the H Block that require H Block licensees to provide signal coverage and offer service to at least 75 percent of the license area’s population. We estimate that the H Block licensee would make 176 filings in 2025. On average, the Commission believes that these filings will be prepared by a licensee’s existing staff attorneys (“in-house”) at approx. $84.84⁹ per hour, and we estimate that it would take about 1 hour to complete this filing.

176 responses x 1 hour per response x $84.84/hour = $14,931.84

12-b. Reporting—Compliance with License Renewal pursuant to 47 C.F.R. §§ 1.949 and 27.13. The Commission requires the H Block licensee to renew their H Block licenses by filing a license renewal application. We do not anticipate that the H Block licensee will make this filing over the next three years.

= 0 hours (this entry is on the statement merely to remind FCC staff to reactivate it in the future and to act as a place holder for this requirement.)

12-c. Reporting—Compliance with Change in Regulatory Status for H Block licensees pursuant to 47 C.F.R. § 27.10(d). An H Block licensee must notify the Commission within 30 days if it changes, or adds to, the carrier status on its license. We do not anticipate that the H Block licensee will make this occasional filing over the next three years.

= 0 hours (this entry is on the statement merely to remind FCC staff to reactivate it in the future and to act as a place holder for this requirement.)

12-d. Reporting Compliance with Eligibility Requirements pursuant to 47 C.F.R. § 27.12. We estimate that the Commission will not incur any costs over the next three years to review foreign ownership notifications.

= 0 hours (this entry is on the statement merely to remind FCC staff to reactivate it in the future and to act as a place holder for this requirement.)

12-e. Reporting—Compliance with Licensee Notification of Permanently Discontinuing Service pursuant to 47 C.F.R.§ 27.17. H Block licensees must notify the Commission within ten days if they permanently discontinue service by filing FCC Form 601 or 605 and requesting license cancellation. We estimate that the H Block licensee will not make this occasional filing over the next three years.

= 0 hours (this entry is on the statement merely to remind FCC staff to reactivate it in the future and to act as a place holder for this requirement.)

TOTAL NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS: 1

TOTAL NUMBER OF ANNUAL RESPONSES: 176 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 = 176

TOTAL ANNUAL BURDEN: 176 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 = 176 hours

TOTAL ANNUAL IN-HOUSE COSTS: $14,931.84 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0= $14,931.84

13. Annual Costs to the Respondent:

No external costs are expected under this collection request or estimated at this time. Internal costs are discussed in item 12.

Applicants should not incur outside capital and start-up costs or operation and maintenance of purchase or services in connection with this information collection.

TOTAL CAPITAL AND START-UP COSTS or OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE (O&M COSTS):

None at this time.

14. Government Costs:

14-a. Performance Requirement for H Block licensees pursuant to 47 C.F.R. §§ 1.946(d) and 27.14. The Commission adopted rules that require H Block licensees to provide signal coverage and offer service to 75 percent of the license area’s population by the end of its license term. We estimate that the cost to the Commission for a GS 11 step 5¹⁰ legal instrument examiner at $44.94 per hour and to take .5 per hour to review the application.

176 licenses x .5 hours x $44.94 = $3,954.72

14-b. Compliance with License Renewal pursuant to 47 C.F.R. §§ 1.949 and 27.13. We estimate that the Commission will not incur any costs over the next three years to review license renewals.

= $0 (this entry is on the statement merely to remind FCC staff to reactivate it in the future and to act as a place holder for this requirement.)

14-c. Change in Regulatory Status for H Block licensees pursuant to 47 C.F.R. § 27.10(d). We estimate that the Commission will not incur any costs over the next three years to review a change in regulatory status.

= $0 (this entry is on the statement merely to remind FCC staff to reactivate it in the future and to act as a place holder for this requirement.)

14-d. Foreign Ownership Notifications pursuant to 47 C.F.R. § 27.12. We estimate that the Commission will not incur any costs over the next three years to review foreign ownership notifications.

= $0 (this entry is on the statement merely to remind FCC staff to reactivate it in the future and to act as a place holder for this requirement.)

14-e. Licensee Notification of Permanently Discontinuing Service pursuant to 47 C.F.R.§ 27.17. We estimate that the Commission will not incur any costs over the next three years to review the licensee notification.

= $0 (this entry is on the statement merely to remind FCC staff to reactivate it in the future and to act as a place holder for this requirement.)

Total Annual Cost Burden for the Federal Government -

$3,954.72 + 0 + 0+ 0+ 0 = $3,954.72

15. There are no program changes to this collection. There are adjustments to this collection of -176 to the number of responses and -176 to the annual burden hours. These adjustments are due to less filings being filed for this collection.

16. Collections of information whose results will be published. The data will not be published for statistical use.

17. We do not request OMB approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection. A comprehensive listing of all OMB-approved information collections is posted on OMB’s website. This listing “displays” the title of the collection, its OMB control number and OMB expiration date.

18. Exceptions to certification statement for Paperwork Reduction Act submissions . The Commission inadvertently published the 60-day Federal Register Notice as a revision instead of an extension. The collection is an extension. There are no other exceptions to the certification statement.

B. Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods:

No statistical methods are employed.

1 Sections 1.949 and 27.13 are being added to this collection to clarify that the filing of the construction notifications and renewal applications involves the interaction of two regulations.

2 For Auction 96, one bidder won 176 licenses and the licenses need to be renewed in 2033. See e.g., Call Sign WQTX200.

3 We expect the respondent to file 176 construction notifications in 2025. See e.g., Call Sign WQTX200.

4 There is one respondent, and we do not expect it to make this filing in the next three years.

5 There is one respondent, and we do not expect it to make this filing in the next three years.

6 There is one respondent, and we do not expect it to make this filing in the next three years.

7 There is one respondent, and we do not expect it to make this filing in the next three years.

8 There is one respondent that would make all of the filings. OMB approval is needed for this information collection because the one respondent will have an additional burden.

9 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics; May 2023; 23-1011 Lawyers; Visit https://www.bls.gov/oes/2023/may/oes231011.htm.

10 U.S. Office of Personnel Management; 2024 General Schedule (GS) Pay Tables; Visit https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/2024/general-schedule/.