Notice of Public Information Collections Being Reviewed by the Federal Communications Commission, Comments Requested, 38016-38018 [E9-18260]

Agencies

• FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 145 (Thursday, July 30, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38016-38018]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-18260]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION


Notice of Public Information Collections Being Reviewed by the 
Federal Communications Commission, Comments Requested

July 27, 2009.
SUMMARY: The Federal Communications Commission, as part of its 
continuing effort to reduce paperwork burdens, invites the general 
public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment 
on the following information collection, as required by the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), Public Law No. 104-13. An agency may not 
conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless it displays a 
currently valid control number. Pursuant to the PRA, no person shall be 
subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of 
information that does not display a valid control number. Comments are 
requested concerning (a) whether the proposed collection of information 
is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the 
Commission, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the Commission's burden estimate; (c) ways 
to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information 
collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of 
information on the respondents, including the use of automated 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

DATES: Written PRA comments should be submitted on or before September 
28, 2009. If you anticipate that you will be submitting comments, but 
find it difficult to do so within the period of time allowed by this 
notice, you should advise the contact listed below as soon as possible.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may submit all PRA comments by e-mail or 
U.S. post mail. To submit your comments by e-mail, send them to 
PRA@fcc.gov and/or Cathy.Williams@fcc.gov. To submit your comments by 
U.S. mail, mark them to the attention of: Cathy Williams, Federal 
Communications Commission, Room 1-C823, 445 12th Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20554.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information about the 
information collection, contact Cathy Williams at (202) 418-2918 or 
send an e-mail to PRA@fcc.gov and/or Cathy.Williams@fcc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: OMB Control Number: 3060-1089.
    Title: Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech 
Services for Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities; E911 
Requirements for IP-Enabled Service Providers, CG Docket No. 03-123 and 
WC Docket No. 05-196, FCC 08-151 and FCC 08-275.
    Form Number: Not Applicable.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Respondents: Business or other for-profit entities; Individuals or 
households; Not-for-profit institutions; State, local or tribal 
government.
    Number of Respondents and Responses: 12 respondents; 5,608,692 
responses.
    Estimated Time per Response: 3 minutes (.05 hours) to 1 hour.
    Frequency of Response: One-time, quarterly and on occasion 
reporting requirements; Recordkeeping requirement; Third party 
disclosure requirement.
    Total Annual Burden: 206,061.
    Total Annual Cost: $4,251,635.
    Obligation To Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits. The 
statutory authority for this information collection is contained in 
sections 1, 2, 4(i), (4)(j), 225, 251, and 303(r) of the Communications 
Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 151, 152, 154(i), 154(j), 225, 251, 
and 303(r).
    Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: An assurance of 
confidentiality is not offered because the Commission has no direct 
involvement in the collection of personally identifiable information 
(PII) from individuals and/or households.
    Privacy Impact Assessment: No impact(s).
    Needs and Uses: On November 30, 2005, the Commission released 
Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for 
Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities; Access to Emergency 
Services, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (VRS/IP Relay 911 NPRM), CG 
Docket No. 03-123, FCC 05-196, published at 71 FR 5221 (February 1, 
2006), which addressed the issue of access to emergency services for 
Internet-based forms of Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS), namely 
Video Relay Service (VRS) and Internet Protocol (IP) Relay. The 
Commission sought to adopt means to ensure that such calls promptly 
reach the appropriate emergency service provider.
    On May 8, 2006, the Commission released Telecommunications Relay 
Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals with Hearing and 
Speech Disabilities; Misuse of IP Relay Service and Video Relay 
Service, Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (IP Relay/VRS

[[Page 38017]]

Misuse FNPRM), CG Docket No. 03-123, FCC 06-58, published at 71 FR 
31131 (June 1, 2006), which sought further comment on whether IP Relay 
and VRS providers should be required to implement user registration 
systems and what information users should provide, as a means of 
curbing illegitimate IP Relay and VRS calls.
    On May 9, 2006, the Commission released Telecommunications Relay 
Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals with Hearing and 
Speech Disabilities, Declaratory Ruling and Further Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking (Interoperability Declaratory Ruling and FNPRM), CG Docket 
No. 03-123, FCC 06-57, published at 71 FR 30818 and 71 FR 30848 (May 
31, 2006). In the Interoperability Declaratory Ruling and FNPRM, the 
Commission sought comment on the feasibility of establishing a single, 
open, and global database of proxy numbers for VRS users that would be 
available to all service providers, so that a hearing person can call a 
VRS user through any VRS provider, without having first to ascertain 
the VRS user's current IP address.
    On June 24, 2008, the Commission released Telecommunications Relay 
Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals with Hearing and 
Speech Disabilities; E911 Requirements for IP-Enabled Service 
Providers, Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 
(First Numbering Order), CG Docket No. 03-123 and WC Docket No. 05-196, 
FCC 08-151, addressing the issues raised in these notices. The First 
Numbering Order establishes a reliable and consistent means by which 
others (including emergency personnel) can identify or reach VRS and IP 
Relay users by, among other things, integrating VRS and IP Relay users 
into the ten-digit, North American Numbering Plan (NANP) numbering 
system.
    To complete a telephone call to an Internet-based TRS user, a 
provider must have some method of logically associating the telephone 
number dialed by the caller to the Internet-based TRS user's device. 
The method adopted by the Commission, known as the TRS Numbering 
Directory, is a central database that maps each user's telephone number 
to routing information needed to find that user's device on the 
Internet. The First Numbering Order requires VRS and IP Relay providers 
to collect and maintain the routing information from their registered 
users and to provision that information to the TRS Numbering Directory 
so that this mapping can occur.
    In addition, to establish a reliable means for VRS and IP Relay 
providers to automatically know the physical location of their users, 
the First Numbering Order requires VRS and IP Relay providers to 
collect and maintain the Registered Location of their registered users. 
And to ensure that emergency personnel can retrieve a user's Registered 
Location (along with the provider's name and the identification number 
of the Communications Assistant for call back purposes), the First 
Numbering Order requires VRS and IP Relay providers to make that 
information available from or through the appropriate automatic 
location information (ALI) database.
    To ensure that VRS and IP Relay users are aware of their providers' 
numbering and E911 service obligations and to inform those users of 
their providers' E911 capabilities, the First Numbering Order requires 
each VRS and IP Relay provider to post an advisory on its Web site, and 
in any promotional materials directed to consumers, addressing 
numbering and E911 services for VRS or IP Relay. Providers also must 
obtain and keep a record of affirmative acknowledgement from each of 
their registered users of having received and understood the user 
notification.
    On December 19, 2008, the Commission released the 
Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for 
Individuals with Hearing and Speech Disabilities; E911 Requirements for 
IP-Enabled Service Providers, Second Report and Order and Order on 
Reconsideration (Second Numbering Order), CG Docket No. 03-123 and WC 
Docket No. 05-196, FCC 08-275, further addressing the duties of VRS and 
IP Relay providers to supply numbering and E911 capabilities to their 
users, as established in the First Numbering Order.
    The Second Numbering Order revises the ``User Notification'' 
information collection requirement adopted in the First Numbering 
Order. Specifically, VRS and IP Relay consumer advisories must explain 
that: (1) The consumer may obtain a telephone number from, and register 
with, his or her provider of choice; (2) the consumer may change 
default providers while retaining the same telephone number by porting 
that number to the new default provider; (3) the consumer may make 
calls through, and receive calls from, any provider; and (4) the 
provider cannot condition the ongoing use or possession of equipment, 
or the receipt of different or upgraded equipment, on the consumer 
continuing to use the provider as his or her default provider.
    The Second Numbering Order also adds five new information 
collection requirements to those adopted in the First Numbering Order. 
First, once a VRS or IP Relay user with a ``proxy'' or ``alias'' number 
obtains a NANP telephone number, the VRS or IP Relay provider must 
provide a message notifying callers of the user's new NANP telephone 
number and advising callers that, after November 12, 2009, the user may 
only be reached by the NANP telephone number. (Although the permissive 
dialing period was scheduled to end on June 30, 2009, the Consumer and 
Governmental Affairs Bureau later extended this deadline until after 
November 12, 2009.) This notification requirement is intended to smooth 
the transition of VRS and IP Relay users to NANP telephone numbers by 
ensuring that a VRS or IP Relay user can be reached by a calling party 
who may not yet know the user's new number.
    Second, VRS and IP Relay providers must verify whether a user who 
places a call through a provider is registered with another provider in 
order to distinguish a new user who has not yet registered from an 
existing user who is dialing around the default provider with which he 
or she is registered. A VRS or IP Relay provider may do this by 
requesting a user's ten-digit NANP number and querying the Numbering 
Directory using that number.
    Third, VRS and IP Relay providers must institute procedures to 
verify the accuracy of registration information, including the 
consumer's name and mailing address, and include a self certification 
component requiring consumers to verify that they have a medically 
recognized hearing or speech disability necessitating their use of TRS. 
These measures will be used by VRS and IP Relay providers to ensure 
that their services are not used for fraudulent or other purposes not 
authorized by the statute or by the Commission's rules.
    Fourth, any VRS or IP Relay provider wishing to pass through 
numbering-related costs to its users must obtain Commission approval to 
do so. This requirement will be used by the Consumer and Governmental 
Affairs Bureau, acting on delegated authority, to ensure that only 
customer-specific, actually incurred costs are passed on to VRS and IP 
Relay users.
    Finally, each VRS provider that provisions equipment to a consumer 
must make available to the consumer's newly selected default provider 
certain information about that equipment that will be used by the new 
default provider to perform the functions required of a default 
provider, including enabling

[[Page 38018]]

point-to-point (non-relay) communications between VRS users, when a 
user switches providers but wishes to use equipment supplied by another 
default provider.

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene H. Dortch,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E9-18260 Filed 7-29-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P