Rule2025-02958
Connect America Fund, Alaska Connect Fund, ETC Annual Reports and Certifications, Telecommunications Carriers Eligible To Receive Universal Service Support, Universal Service Reform-Mobility Fund
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
February 24, 2025
Effective
February 24, 2025
Issuing agencies
Federal Communications Commission
Abstract
In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved, for a period of three years, an information collection associated with the rules for the Connect America Fund contained in the Commission's Connect America Fund Order (Order) of April 10, 2024. This document is consistent with the Order, which stated that the Commission would publish a document in the Federal Register announcing the effective date of the revised information collection requirements.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 35 (Monday, February 24, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 35 (Monday, February 24, 2025)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 10462-10463]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-02958]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
47 CFR Part 54
[WC Docket Nos. 10-90, 23-328, 14-58, 09-197; WT Docket No. 10-208; FCC
23-87; FR ID 277203]
Connect America Fund, Alaska Connect Fund, ETC Annual Reports and
Certifications, Telecommunications Carriers Eligible To Receive
Universal Service Support, Universal Service Reform--Mobility Fund
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Final rule; announcement of effective date.
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SUMMARY: In this document, the Federal Communications Commission
(Commission) announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
has approved, for a period of three years, an information collection
associated with the rules for the Connect America Fund contained in the
Commission's Connect America Fund Order (Order) of April 10, 2024. This
document is consistent with the Order, which stated that the Commission
would publish a document in the Federal Register announcing the
effective date of the revised information collection requirements.
DATES: The amendments to 54.313(a) by adding subsection
(a)(6)(i),(ii)(iii) and (iv), and revising 54.313(j) and adding
subsections 54.313(j)(3), (j)(3)(i) and (j)(3)(ii), published at 89 FR
25147, on April 10, 2024 are effective February 24, 2025.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jesse Jachman, Wireline Competition
Bureau at (202) 418-7400 or TTY (202) 418-0484. For additional
information concerning the Paperwork Reduction Act information
collection requirements contact Nicole Ongele at (202) 418-2991 or via
email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#347a5d575b58511a7b5a53515851745257571a535b42"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="5d13343e3231387312333a3831381d3b3e3e733a322b">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Commission submitted revised information
collection requirements for review and approval by OMB, as required by
the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, on September 23, 2024. OMB
approved the revised information collection requirements on November 5,
2024. The information collection requirements are contained in the
Commission's Connect America Fund Order, WC Docket No. 10-90 et al.,
FCC 23-87, published at 89 FR 25147, April 10, 2024. The OMB Control
Number is 3060-1265. The Commission publishes this document as an
announcement of the effective date of the rules published on April 10,
2024. If you have any comments on the burden estimates listed in the
following, or how the Commission can improve the collections and reduce
any burdens caused thereby, please contact Nicole Ongele, Federal
Communications Commission, 45 L Street NE, Washington, DC 20554. Please
include the OMB Control Number, 3060-1265, in your correspondence. The
Commission will also accept your comments via email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#e3b3b1a2a3858080cd848c95"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="04545645446267672a636b72">[email protected]</span></a>. To
request materials in accessible formats for people with disabilities
(Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), send an email
to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#284e4b4b1d181c684e4b4b064f475e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="a1c7c2c2949195e1c7c2c28fc6ced7">[email protected]</span></a> or call the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau
at (202) 418-0530 (voice).
Synopsis
As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C.
3507), the Commission is notifying the public that it received OMB
approval on November 5, 2024, for the amendments to 54.313(a) by adding
subsection (a)(6)(i),(ii)(iii) and (iv), and revising 54.313(j) and
adding subsections 54.313(j)(3), (j)(3)(i) and (j)(3)(ii), published at
89 FR 25147, April 10, 2024.
Under 5 CFR part 1320, an agency may not conduct or sponsor a
collection of information unless it displays a current, valid OMB
Control Number.
No person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply
with a collection of information subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act
that does not display a current, valid OMB Control Number. The OMB
Control Number is 3060-1265.
The foregoing notice is required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995, Public Law 104-13, October 1, 1995, and 44 U.S.C. 3507.
[[Page 10463]]
The total annual reporting burdens and costs for the respondents
are as follows:
OMB Control Number: 3060-1265.
OMB Approval Date: November 5, 2024.
OMB Expiration Date: November 30, 2027.
Title: Administrative Order--Performance Testing Measures.
Form Number: N/A.
Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
Respondents: Business or other for-profit.
Number of Respondents and Responses: 1,705 unique respondents;
7,681 responses.
Estimated Time per Response: 15-23 hours.
Frequency of Response: Biennial reporting requirements, quarterly
reporting requirements and annual reporting requirements.
Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits.
Statutory authority for this information collection is contained in 47
U.S.C. 151-154, 155, 201-206, 214, 218-220, 251, 252, 254, 256, 303(r),
332, 403, 405, 410, and 1302.
Total Annual Burden: 170,620 hours.
Total Annual Cost: No Cost.
Needs and Uses: In the USF/ICC Transformation Order, the Commission
laid the groundwork for today's universal service programs providing
$4.5 billion in support for broadband internet deployment in high-cost
areas. Connect America Fund, et al., WC Docket No. 10-90, et al.,
Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 26 FCC Rcd
17663 (2011) (USF/ICC Transformation Order). The USF/ICC Transformation
Order required, among other things, that high-cost universal service
recipients ``test their broadband networks for compliance with speed
and latency metrics and certify to and report the results to the
Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) on an annual basis.''
Id. at 17705, para. 109. Pursuant to the Commission's direction in that
Order, the Wireline Competition Bureau, the Wireless Telecommunications
Bureau, and the Office of Engineering and Technology (the Bureaus and
OET) adopted more specific methodologies for such testing in the
Performance Measures Order. See generally Performance Measures Order.
See also 47 CFR 54.313(a)(6) (requiring that recipients of high-cost
support provide ``[t]he results of network performance tests pursuant
to the methodology and in the format determined by the Wireline
Competition Bureau, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, and Office of
Engineering and Technology''). Addressing petitions for
reconsideration, the Bureaus and OET adopted certain modifications and
clarifications to the requirements pertaining to high-latency bidders
in the Connect America Fund (CAF) Phase II auction, and the Commission
refined the general testing requirements further. See generally Connect
America Fund, WC Docket No. 10-90, Order on Reconsideration, DA 19-911
(WCB/WTB/OET 2019) (Satellite-Related Performance Measures Order);
Performance Measures Reconsideration Order. In the High Cost
Administrative Order, the Commission adopted a quarterly reporting and
certification schedule, replacing the previous annual requirement, such
that all carriers receiving high-cost support are required to report
and certify their quarterly performance testing results within two
weeks, rather than within one week, after the end of the quarter in
which the tests are conducted. See High Cost Administrative Order, FCC
25-87, para. 138. Accordingly, this collection includes the
requirements for testing speed and latency, and reporting and
certifying such performance measures within two weeks after the end of
each quarter to ensure that carriers are meeting the public interest
obligations associated with their receipt of high-cost universal
service support.
Carriers will identify, from among the locations they have already
submitted and certified in USAC's High Cost Universal Broadband (HUBB)
portal, the locations where they have an active subscriber (deployment
locations are reported under OMB Control Number 3060-1228, and active
locations will be reported under this control number). From those
subscriber locations, USAC will then select a random sample from which
the carrier will be required to perform testing for speed and latency.
Carriers that do not provide location information in the HUBB will use
a randomization tool provided by USAC to select a random sample of
locations for testing. Due to the rule changes that the Commission
adopted on the High Cost Administrative Order, the carrier will then be
required to submit to USAC the results of the testing on a quarterly
basis. The quarterly filing will include the testing results from the
prior quarter. The carrier's sample for each service tier (e.g., 10
Mbps/1 Mbps, 25 Mbps/3 Mbps) shall be regenerated every two years.
During the two-year cycle, carriers will have the ability to add and
remove subscriber locations if necessary, e.g., as subscribership
changes. Also, in July 2023, the Commission adopted the Enhanced
Alternative-Connect America Cost Model (E-ACAM) support mechanism, a
new model-based offer to existing Alternative-Connect America Cost
Model (A-CAM) I, A-CAM II, and Connect America Fund Broadband Loop
Support (CAF BLS) carriers. See Connect America Fund: A National
Broadband Plan for Our Future High-Cost Universal Service Support et
al., WC Docket No. 10-90 et al., Report and Order, Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking, and Notice of Inquiry, FCC 23-60, at 23-24, para. 49 (July
24, 2023). Revisions include (1) a process for E-ACAM carriers to get a
performance measures testing sample from non-HUBB reported locations,
and (2) and reporting and certifying such performance measures within
two weeks after the end of each quarter.
Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2025-02958 Filed 2-21-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P
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